Traditional teaching methods seek to ensure memory retention
through rote. This method may also be noted in many secular schools
in spite of a pre-war network of well-established teacher training
institutes in Kabul and major provincial centers which provided
2-year and 4-year courses largely for primary teachers. The Faculty
of Education at Kabul University taught pedagogy and administration;
other faculties trained teachers in general knowledge and specialized
subjects such as literature and languages, geophysics, social
science, archaeology, and theology.
Afghan women have always been attracted to the teaching profession
because it is regarded as a culturally acceptable career for women.
After the war began in 1978, however, many qualified teachers,
male and female, opted for resettlement abroad. NGOs seek to fill
this gap, but because of limited allocations of funds, salaries
are mostly months in arrears, trained male teachers often prefer
to work as day laborers while female teachers, even before the
Taliban banned women from schools, worked without pay, or stayed
at home.
Country
name Afghanistan conventional long form Islamic State of
Afghanistan conventional short form Afghanistan local long
form Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan local short form Afghanestan former Republic of Afghanistan
Area
- total: 647,500 sq km land: 647,500 sq km water: 0 sq km
Terrain
- mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest
Climate
- arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers
Geography
- landlocked; the Hindu Kush mountains that run northeast to southwest divide
the northern provinces from the rest of the country; the highest peaks are in
the northern Vakhan (Wakhan Corridor)
Waterways
- 1,200 km note: chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT (2001)
Natural hazards - damaging earthquakes
occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts
Information
Courtesy: The Library of Congress - Country Studies
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