Feature: Local customs a barrier for girls to higher education in S. Afghanistan

"The main obstacle on our way to get higher education is the indecent traditions against women and illogical culture of families that opposing education for girls," 16-year-old girl student Khatira said.

Studying in grade nine in Zarghona Ana Girl School in the southern Kandahar city, 450 km south of Kabul, Khatira lamented that many families don't like their daughters to get higher education.

According to Khatira, many families regard getting higher education by girls in the southern region of Afghanistan as "stigma" and many parents tie the knot for their girls when they are in grade nine or block them from farther schooling.

"Although my family has no opposition to my study, I am afraid that living in the traditional environment can influence my parents one day to stop me from going to school," Khatira said.

The residents of Kandahar and the neighboring Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces in south Afghanistan, where Taliban militants are active, deeply believe in tribal traditions and mostly prefer women to stay at home.

Once the capital of Afghanistan until 1775 and the second largest city in the country currently, Kandahar and adjoining areas, according to locals, have been suffocated by the ongoing Taliban-led militancy as the hardliner group has been spreading extremism and misogyny policy in the region.

With a population of more than 2.7 million, Kandahar has been regarded as a populous province in Afghanistan. However, few hundreds of girls complete 12 grade of school annually and only a small number of them get chance of enrolment to universities.

In Zabul, Helmand and Uruzgan where the people deeply believe in tribal traditions and Taliban militancy has been continuing for years, the situation is no difference from in Kandahar.

"Each year on average basis between 11,000 to 15,000 girls get enrolment to school in Kandahar but the number of those graduated annually from school is 500 to 600," head of provincial education department Abdul Ghafar Paiwaston told Xinhua.

Large majority of the girl students drop out of school in grade six, seven, eight, nine, 10 and rarely continue to reach grade 11 and 12, according to the official.

Only 200 school graduated girl students attended the university entry test in Kandahar last year and no parents allow their daughter to live in dormitory.

In addition to customs barriers, security is another problem that deprived girls from getting education, the official asserted.

"The fathers in Kandahar instead of encouraging their daughters to get higher education sell them for some 2 million Afghanis (around 29,000 U.S. dollars) and enjoy the life," another school girl Shabana, 15, told Xinhua, lamenting she has 34 classmates in grade nine in the school but unfortunately the number might reduce to 10 when they reach grade 12.

"We the girls want to become doctors, engineers and teachers but our fathers claim that staying girls at home is better than becoming doctor or teacher," Shabana whispered with sorrow. Endit