Dressed in black school uniform and on way to school together with a dozen classmates, Farida voiced her hope to serve her war-torn motherland.
"Afghanistan has suffered tremendously from war over the past three decades. Her wounds need the attention of her children for recovering," the 14-year-old girl said.
A seventh grader, Farida, who uses one name like many Afghans, believes that illiteracy is
the main factor for backwardness and continued trouble in Afghanistan and determines to fight against it.
"My first and foremost objective is to become a teacher and teach children in hopes of seeing all Afghans one day be able to read and write," Farida said.Most of the Afghans believe that the anti-government fighting force has been mainly
composed of the illiterate and poor teenagers.
The illiteracy rate in Afghanistan, which has a population of some 30 million people,stands at more than 70 percent.
The curious student, quoting her teachers, said that Afghanistan is one of the poorest
countries in the world.
"After graduation from university and becoming a teacher, I would travel to each village
and teach the children," she said.
It is apparently difficult or rather impossible to realize her dream at this stage, as Taliban insurgents who outlawed education for girls and confined women to their houses have
regrouped and resumed their activities.
More than 600 schools mostly in the southern region have been shut down due to Taliban -linked violence, thus, over 250,000 children have been deprived of schooling.
Furthermore, threats from the militants have begun to prevent the parents in the relatively
peaceful northern region from sending their children to schools.
A total of 23 students have been killed so far this year due to Taliban attacks in the
northern Kunduz province and the number of students in the province has therefore decreased.
Meanwhile, more than 40,000 street children are said to be in Afghan cities serving as
child labors to support their needy families.
"I want to become a road engineer and construct the roads and highways of my country,"
a 13-year-old boy student named Mohammad Fawad told Xinhua.
Learning in the sixth grade in school, Fawad, who fetches usable items from garbage cans for sale to support his seven-member family in the morning and goes to school in the afternoon, said however he was not sure if he could continue his study.
The boy added that "it is painful to live in war and misery in this century."
"If I were able to graduate from university and became a road engineer, it is my dream to
build roads and highways in my country," Fawad said.
The boy said he was envious when he saw on television the outside world, particularly the
neighboring countries with highways, green environment, modern cities and peaceful life.
"The war must end and the Afghans should work hard to rebuild their country and live in
peace and prosperity like others, as we deserve to live in dignity," said another teenager named Karim.
About 35 percent of 7 million children in the country are now at school, almost 14 times
more than the number of school students during the six-year Taliban reign which collapsed in late 2001.
Deprived for years of schooling during the Taliban regime, Fawad voiced his hope that "I
wish that all Afghan boys and girls go to school in a peaceful environment without any fear
and be able to serve the nation."