Thirteen NYU Abu Dhabi students were given a rare opportunity to sit down for dinner with representatives from the Afghan Ministry of Education following a panel on Oct. 17.

The panel, held in a small conference room at the InterContinental Hotel, was organized by Associate Professor of Politics Abdul Noury, Assistant Professor of International Education Dana Burde and Assistant Professor of Economics David Blakeslee. Each presented research on education interventions in Afghanistan and Pakistan and how education relates to peace and development in the region. Also present were representatives from the Ministry of Education who were partaking in a training course led by Professor Burde in education and program design.

“There is no development without women’s education,” said Noury, as he opened his presentation. The diverse audience nodded in agreement. Focusing primarily on Afghanistan, Noury explained the turbulent history of education in the country.

During the Taliban government from 1996 to 2001, girls’ education was banned. In 2007, a law was instituted to counteract the ban. However, the gender disparity is still one of the worst in the world. As of 2007, only 37 percent of all school-aged children attend school, and the enrollment gender gap is 17 percentage points. Noury’s research demonstrated that girls’ education was significantly reduced when exposed to the Taliban government.

From 2008 to 2011, rampant attacks on girls’ schools pressured parents to keep their daughters at home. Recently, Malala Yousafzai was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing international attention to the struggle of her classmates as they fought for access to education in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The status of education in both countries is bleak. In Pakistan, literacy rates are 69 percent for males and 40 percent for females. Studies in Afghanistan report literacy rates for males and females as low as 43 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

Burde argued that, like Yousafzai, many children and parents want to send their children to school. However, she said that long distances between home and school prevent girls especially from attaining an education and is one factor that explains gender disparities in enrollment rates.

The Afghan Ministry of Education has traditionally supported central village schools that are run by government-trained teachers who are primarily male. Many students have to walk long distances for many hours to reach schools in other villages, prompting many girls who would go to school to stay home for safety and proprietary reasons. The research carried out by Burde and her co-author Leigh Linden found that instituting small, community-based schools with teachers who are less qualified but from the region would eliminate the gender gap in enrollment as well as increase students’ access to primary education. Indeed, the intervention of the community-based schools increased all children’s enrollment by 42 percent and girls alone by 51 percent.

Given her results, it is no surprise that the Afghan Ministry of Education took interest in community-based schools. In order for the Ministry to design, implement and monitor their own research, they are collaborating with Burde and the Danish government to be trained in program development in Abu Dhabi.

Jalaludin Atayee, manager for research and evaluation at the Ministry of Education, explained that the training allows Burde and other professors to pass on their knowledge to Afghanis and conduct research in the future.

Atayee stressed the importance of education for the advancement of the Afghani people, economy and society. His own family’s story is one of the endurance of education in Afghanistan.

“My father and mother are illiterate, never been to school,” said Atayee. “But I have been doing my masters for two years and I am planning for my Ph.D.”

During the Taliban government’s ban on girls’ schools, Atayee remembered his sister’s underground schooling.

“I remember my sister; she studied four grades during that home-based education …  now she is the only girl in the family studying economy at Kabul University,” Atayee said.

Like Yousafzai, Atayee stressed the thirst for education suffered by many people in the region.

“I think if the supply side [of education] is sufficient enough, the demand can be risen easily,” he said.

Schools that do exist across rural areas, Blakeslee said, oftentimes are missing working water, toilets, electricity or a boundary wall for protection.

“If a school doesn’t have a boundary wall, parents will not send their daughters and often won't send their sons either,” explained Burde.

Tension arose in the panel when Noury and a representative from the Ministry of Education differed on the Taliban’s philosophy.

Sophomore Ahmed Hameed, who grew up in Pakistan, also attended the dinner. After the event, Hameed commented that the Taliban is increasingly factionalized.

“Personally, I believe [the] Taliban have changed given their ten years in exile … this Taliban is not the same as it was 20 years ago, so I did get this impression that so many of [the representatives] do think the Taliban is right,” Hameed said.

Junior Amel Yagoub found the debate surrounding the Taliban very interesting. For her, it was as an insight into a different viewpoint not represented in Western media.

“There is a different perspective in Afghanistan of the Taliban,” said Yagoub. “I got [the impression] that everyone in Afghanistan has this residual resentment for the Taliban, and they don’t really seem to.”

Overall, the discussions were an invaluable experience for students who were given an insight into the difficulties both countries still face in educating their citizens. For students thinking about their Capstone projects, Burde’s research gave insight into simple solutions for big problems relating to development. She said the work she did with her Afghan colleagues on the ground, some of whom were present at dinner, was invaluable.

Hameed echoed her sentiments with regards to the panel and dinner.

"It was interesting to get to know what is happening on the ground ... what the people who have the real stake in the country think about it," Hameed said.