hundreds of schools remain closed in the south

September 9^th is the international literacy day, in Afghanistan's insurgency-hit southern provinces; there are concerns that hundreds of schools will remain closed due to insecurity.
"At least 300 schools in Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces will not open because of insecurity," Siddiq Patman, deputy minister of education, in addition to this another 180 schools has been torched down by the rebels.

Over six million students, 38 percent of them female, have been registered at schools throughout the country, up to 40 percent of them in the warmer south, the Ministry of Education (MoE) said. In spite of high enrollment rate in the south, there are less students in the upper classes due to high drop out rate. Only a quarter of children make it to the 9^th grade in the south. More than half of school age girls in the south are not enrolled in schools.
Owing to insurgency-related violence and other problems, over 350 schools were closed down in the southern provinces in 2006.

In the southern province of Helmand, where Taliban insurgents control several districts, the education system has been disintegrating over the past four years.
"In 2003 there were 224 functioning schools in Helmand. Now only 90 schools are likely to open on Monday [10 September]," said Taj Mohammad Popal, head of the provincial education department. Since 2005, 36 schools have been burned down and 17 teachers killed in Helmand province

Afghan officials say they cannot operate schools in areas under Taliban control, where girls have been denied the right to education and boys can only attend Islamic study classes at mosques.

Afghanistan's progress in education over the past five years has been praised in some quarters, but over half of all Afghan children (about 3.5 million people) are out of school, the UK-based charity, Oxfam, said in October 2006.

The MoE said 14 schools were torched by insurgents in several provinces between April and May 2007.