Hazara Nation

Fatema, a woman from the Naw Abad village of Bamyan province and a mother of seven children is actively participating in a new literacy class. Fatema is 34 years old but after being in class for just three months, she has learned how to read and write, skills that she never learned during her childhood. "When I read my text books and learn something new, I feel a great sense of pride and honour in my heart. I am no longer an illiterate woman," she said.

About three months ago there were no literate women in the entire village of Naw Abad in the Shaidan area of Bamyan province in the central highlands of Afghanistan. The area is most famous for the ruined Buddha statues. Now with the Enhancement of Literacy in Afghanistan (ELA) programme, Fatema and other women from the village are gathering everyday to achieve a common goal - to challenge the traditional idea that women don't need to be educated.

UNESCO with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education and funding from the Government of Japan started the pilot literacy programme in Bamyan province in November 2008. Over the next five years the literacy programme will provide educational assistance to 600,000 men and women in 18 provinces of Afghanistan. Ultimately the goal is to ensure that 60 per cent of the beneficiaries of the programme will be women. In addition to the literacy intervention, the programme provides vocational skills and micro-credit opportunities to the newly-literate women to help them get involved in income generation opportunities and to help their families economically.

Fatema, who is one of the most outstanding students in the Bamyan class, explained her motives: "There is a big difference between a literate and an illiterate woman; being literate means being able to help oneself and one's family. I will encourage my daughters to go to school. Now I can help them with their homework, and sometimes we have discussions on dictations and writing or reading words correctly, which is both interesting and encouraging for me and my children."

But some relatives and neighbours still criticize Fatema's participation in the literacy class. In turn Fatema believes that such a critical attitude is what condemns women to illiteracy. "Despite some criticism, my husband now supports me coming to this class. At first he couldn't believe that at this age I can learn reading and writing, but now things have changed dramatically. He is happy that I help our children with their lessons as he cannot do it himself. I am proud of my achievements and my reading and writing skills, I never want to give up learning even if I must fight against criticism or any other problems," said Fatema.