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CNN Live Sunday

Northern Alliance: Different Approach to Education for Girls and Women.

Aired October 21, 2001 - 15:48   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.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: The Taliban's rivals in Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance, control a relatively tiny part of the country. Northern Alliance made up mainly of minority ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks are taking a different approach to education for girls and women. That's compared to the Taliban.

CNN's Matthew Chance with the report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A girls schools in the Afghan town of Jabal Seraaj: This, a routine lesson in the days of the week. Under the Taliban, even basic female education is banned. In this country's bitter civil war. Afghan fathers were fighting on the frontlines for and against this.

The school in the north of the country has been overrun and closed three times by the Taliban. It's now in opposition hands.

"If we weren't at school, we'd have to do housework," Nasifa told us, "or just pray in the mosque. This way, we get to read."

Here, teenagers are reading biology. The facilities are poor, the books outdated, but this is still academic study at the level completely denied to the vast majority of Afghan girls. And ambitions stretch far beyond those envisioned to women by the hardlined leaders of the Taliban.

"We live in a war-ravaged country and I want to heal the injuries," says Shekaba. That's why I want to study to become a doctor. Halbasha says she wants to be a judge, to dispense justice in a country where she says there is so many problems.

(on camera): For these young girls, Afghanistan's civil war isn't about territory or even power. It's about a basic right to learn, denied by the Taliban. Their status here in the north is far from equal. And the standards of education they receive, inadequate. What little they have, these girls and their families say they're willing to fight.

Gulgadin has daughters of his own and has taught Pashtun language and science for 23 years. He's a devout Muslim and a firm believer in female education. The two go hand in hand, he says. GULGADIN: "The prophet Mohammed said that peace will be upon those who seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. Learning is incumbent on every man and women. Our biggest problem though is money. The fight against the Taliban is draining our resources."

CHANCE: Getting educated in a country that's been at war for a generation and is mired in poverty is no easy task. And these girls say they're determined to succeed.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Jabal Seraaj, northern Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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