The Ministry of Education this week rented a house for students at the Faiz Mohammad Katib High School in Dasth-e-Barchi in Kabul following a report earlier this month highlighting their plight. 

Thousands of children were being taught in the open air on the side of a barren mountain without any basic facilities. 

Despite the building having now been rented, the children still have no desks or chairs or other basic learning material. 

“We were studying in the sun. Now we have been moved here but we do not have any books or chairs,” said Saliha, one of the students. 

“We want chairs and desks. We sit on the ground and study,” another student Khatira said.

Meanwhile, a number of teachers at the school, and residents in the area, said the school has at least 9,000 pupils in total but lacks adequate facilities. 

“The education ministry’s delegation has not visited the school. We urge the relevant officials to take practical steps and build a school for us,” said Mohammad Arif, a teacher.

“The houses have been rented but they are not standard buildings for a school,” a resident of the area, Reza Hassani said.

“The school building must be built otherwise the land will be grabbed,” another resident of the area, Husain Rezwani said.

According to statistics, at least 3,000 schools are in insecure regions in the country, while almost 3.5 million children have no access to education.