FARAH, Afghanistan (November 18) – Though Noor Mohammed made a career change three years ago from an Afghan National Army explosive ordnance officer to an elementary school teacher, he didn’t leave his discipline behind.
He assembles his army of nearly 50 first- through third-graders into height order and lines they up perfectly abreast one another at the base of a raised concrete platform that marks the entrance to their new school.
In anticipation of the school’s opening ceremony, the students stare up at a group of Afghan government officials, village elders, representatives from the International Security Assistance Force, and the new school’s head master, Abdul Satar.
“Children, are you going to come to school every day ready to learn?” yells Mr. Satar in Pashto with authority and excitement in his voice.
“Yes!” the children shout back in enthusiastic unison.
“Children, are you going to study hard and follow through with your education through the 12th-grade and even beyond?” the head master asks.
“Yes!” the children shout.
That hopeful answer is one of the reasons why teacher Noor Mohammed changed his career three years ago.
“Children are the future of Afghanistan and when they are educated, Afghanistan’s future will be better,” he said.
Mr. Mohammed said the newly constructed four-room Kohak School with its bathroom and volleyball court is a welcome change from the open field where he had been teaching prior to the construction.
“I feel like this school is my home,” Mr. Mohammed said. “I am so proud of the work that has been put into it, that I can come to work here, and that the children have a place to learn.”With a staff of three teachers, the school can accommodate more than 200 students in smaller group sessions throughout the day. The curriculum includes Pashto literacy, math, drawing and sports.
The $125,000 project took four months from design to ribbon cutting and was funded by Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah and the Italian Task Force South, said PRT Farah’s chief engineer, U.S. Navy Lt. Cdr. David Gunn of Chicago, Ill.
“A local Afghan contractor managed the construction from start to finish and the PRT made periodic visits to the site to ensure the quality of the work,” he said. “All of the construction was done by Afghans for Afghans.”
Government officials from the Farah ministry of education were heavily involved in the oversight of the project, said the ministry’s head of logistics, Haji Mohammad Nabi.
“My role during construction was to itemize everything that was put into this school, from work hours to benches to chalkboards,” Mr. Nabi said. “And now I feel it is my personal responsibility to make sure it stays in the excellent condition it is in.”
“If one of these window panes breaks, for example, I will work with the education ministry so the glass is promptly replaced,” he said tapping on the glass window at the end of the school’s hallway.
Mr. Nabi said the school is an important part of increasing security and stability in the area.
“To me, this school means that our children will get an education in a secure place, which is important because these children will be the ones to rebuild Afghanistan,” he said.
Mr. Nabi said he hopes some of the children will become teachers at the school someday so the community can continue to reap the benefits of education.
A woman from the village whose children attend the new school said she felt the school brings more security, hope and pride to her 100-family town.
“Without education you are blind,” she said. “I am very happy our children will see.”
The opening day of Kohak School was particularly special for U.S. Navy Reserve Chief Petty Officer Carol Perry, the head of the PRT’s communications office in Farah and but in the U.S. she is a principal in Oklahoma City, Okla. of an elementary school.
“It brought me to tears to walk down the hall of the new school,” the 27-year education specialist said. “It was great to hear the children engaged and participating in their classes with such enthusiasm. It made me miss my students back home and gave me such hope for Afghanistan’s future.”
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