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CNN Live Saturday

Beginning of School Year is Historic Occasion for Afghan Women

Aired March 23, 2002 - 12:12   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KATE SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's an important day in the lives of schoolchildren across Afghanistan, particularly the girls. Now that the fighting has eased and the Taliban are out, today is the start of a new school year.

CNN senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers is in Kabul with the latest on that.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Education for Afghan women went public for the first time in five years this weekend. The reason being, of course, that the Taliban, which had ruled this country for five years, had made decrees and passed laws which said that the young women of Afghanistan could not, in their belief in accordance with the holy Koran, receive an education. That, of course, is contradictory to many other interpretations of Islam.

But when the Taliban ruled here, the only education for young girls was underground, secretly in homes before the Taliban often found out. Many young girls said that in those Taliban years they were afraid when the Taliban caught them trying to learn they would be whipped or flagellated.

Not this day, however. When the young women went to schools here in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, there was joy and rejoicing. Many of the young women were able to takeoff their burkas in the school grounds. There was much flag waving. Education was no longer religious so much as secular. Young Afghan women sang songs.

This was seen, of course, as a triumph by those who are trying to rebuild Afghanistan, not in the last of which the U.N. special envoy to this country, Lahkdar Brahimi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAHKDAR BRAHIMI, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO AFGHANISTAN: We have witnessed many historic moments in Afghanistan over the past three months. But perhaps none will be remembered with as much emotion and enthusiasm as the one we are experiencing here today at the Amanei School (ph) in Kabul as the new school term is officially launched and one and a half million boys and girls throughout the country return to school.

(END VIDEO CLIP) RODGERS: Because there has been no schooling for young Afghan girls in over five years now, there was, perhaps, more confusion than educating this first day of school. The reason being many of the schools had no idea how many young Afghan girls they would be receiving. So consequential there was a shortage of books. One school we went to had 3,000 to 4,000 students trying to get in the doors and the headmistress of that school said that, in point of fact, they probably had to come back on Monday while the school got better organized.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

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