School To Be Named After An Afghan Father Who Walked His Daughters 12 Km To School

A school will be constructed in South-Eastern Afghanistan to honour the dedication of an illiterate father towards his daughters' education.

Mia Khan, a 63-year-old resident of Sharana in Paktika province is the heroic father who walked his daughters 12 kilometres every day to the nearest school. He used to wait outside the school during their lessons before walking his daughters back home. The school to be built will be named after him, announced the Afghanistan government.

Khan's commitment comes in light of his dream to ensure that his daughters get quality education and build a life that's different from their parents. Soon, his story for taking his daughters to the only girls' school in the area went viral on social media.

His three daughters, aged 8, 10, and 12, study at the Nuraniya School for Girls, which he said was chosen because it provides quality education and currently has 220 girls as students.

On January 4, Mirwais Balkhi, the Minister of Education invited Khan to his office and appreciated his determination to overcome hurdles especially when he resided in a remote area.

In a tweet, he said, "I met Mya Khan, a father who understands the value of education. His commitment is worth appreciation. He walks his daughters to their school, and brings them back home; the distance from his house to the school is 12km."

Later, in a separate tweet, he added that the Ministry of Education appreciating the efforts especially towards girls education would build a school "under his name" in Khan's village, calling him "the hero of education."

Khan is a middle-aged man who suffers from heart disease and is illiterate, reported The Reporterly.

"I bring my daughters to school every day to study and experience a different life than her mother and I. Now I suffer why I'm not literate and why there's no doctor in Paktika so I'll do whatever I can to educate my daughters," said Khan.

Narrating their experience, he added, that he and his daughters travelled, most often, by foot to the school although they occasionally used a motorbike.

An estimated 3.7 million children are out-of-school in Afghanistan and 60 per cent of them are girls, according to the United Nations. Sustained conflicts for more than three decades is the fundamental reason for a crippled education system in Afghanistan. Traditional beliefs, socio-cultural norms, and government inefficiency affect the school-going students especially girls.

Also Read: Andhra Pradesh CM Launches Scheme Providing Rs 15,000 Annually To Women With School Going Children