KABUL, Jun 8 (NNN-ANA) – For many university students, who lack text books in Afghanistan, a book fair held at the Kabul University, from Sunday last week to Friday this week, is a go-to place to quench their thirst for knowledge.
“I come here to find some books about engineering,” Juma Hami, a student of Kabul University, said that, the students are in bad need of textbooks.
“We don’t have textbooks,” the engineering major student muttered, hailing the book fair as a step towards encouraging Afghans to study and a chance to get the latest professional books.
“I want to finish my education with professional knowledge,” Hami added.
According to the organisers, hundreds of people, including students and teachers of universities have visited the six-day book fair, and the number of visitors has risen even though the war-weary Afghans are facing harsh economic problems.
Aiming to provide chances for the young generation to read and get knowledge, 45 publishing houses in Afghanistan participated in the event, said Abdul Haleem Muftizada, one of the organisers.
“The books essential for university students are displayed here,” Muftizada said, adding that, the war-torn country needs engineers, doctors, skilled workers and highly educated people, to rebuild their country and bring it at par with prosperous nations.
In accordance with a report by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Afghanistan’s education system has been devastated by more than three decades of conflicts.
“In such a situation, we need to study, and our young generation needs to study hard, and work for the country,” said Mohammad Munir, who also came to the fair for professional books.
Although there is a lack of modern teaching buildings and science laboratories, Munir believes that knowledge can help him “make our country a good one in the next few decades.”
Since the United States slapped sanctions on Afghanistan and frozen over nine billion U.S. dollars of its assets in U.S. banks, the double whammy of war and U.S. sanctions have left the unsettled country reeling.
Echoing Munir, Abdul Hadi Yazdani, professor at Kabul University, ended his exile life in Germany and returned to his homeland last month.
“Afghans should study hard to get knowledge,” Yazdani said, after he bought three books about automotive engineering from the fair, to share with his students. “We have to rebuild Afghanistan.”
“This is our land and serving this land is our job,” Yazdani added.– NNN-ANA
