by QUIL LAWRENCE
NATO officials say they’re hitting their recruiting goals for the Afghan army and police. This is great news for the Obama administration, which plans this year to begin transferring control of parts of the country to Afghan forces.
After 30 years of war, most Afghan men know how to handle a rifle. For the same reason, most of them can’t read.
“When I joined the army, I couldn’t write my own name or read someone else’s — I was ashamed,” says Baz Muhammad, a 40-year-old father of five from the northern province of Kunduz.
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Muhammad is one of thousands of Afghan soldiers and policemen enrolled in a two-month basic literacy course that starts with reading numbers and the letters of the Persian alphabet. Despite estimates that 70 percent to 90 percent of Afghan soldiers and police can’t read, it has taken years for international trainers to recognize the importance of the problem — and make it a priority.
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“I’ve been in the army for five years, and until this week I couldn’t read a thing,” says Ismail, 25, from eastern Laghman province.
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In fact, though NATO trainers don’t emphasize it, the literacy courses are having another side effect: It appears that some Afghans are joining the army just so they can get a basic education.
NPR for more