Nearly half of Afghan children out of school: report

Around 50 percent of Afghan children, making 3.7 million between the ages of 7 to 17 years old, have been reported to be out of school, UNICEF, or the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund said on Sunday.

"The ongoing conflict and worsening security situation across the country, combined with deeply engrained poverty and discrimination against girls, have pushed the rate of out-of-school children up for the first time since 2002 levels," the organization's Afghanistan Country Study said in the statement.

Girls make 60 percent of the out-of-school population, putting them at a particular disadvantage, and compounding gender-based discrimination, the statement noted.

The report added that the number of girls not going to school in the worst-affected provinces, such as Kandahar, Helmand, Wardak, Paktika, Zabul and Uruzgan, reaches to 85 percent.

It noted that displacement and child marriage also significantly affect a child's chances of going to school. A shortage of female teachers, poor school facilities and insecurity affecting the delivery of education in conflict-affected areas, are also factors driving children, particularly girls, away from the classroom.

"We commend the Government of Afghanistan for prioritizing and declaring the year 2018 as the year of education," Adele Khodr, UNICEF representative in Afghanistan, said in the statement.

"Now is the time for a renewed commitment to provide girls and boys with the relevant learning opportunities they need to progress in life and to play a positive role in society," she added.

More than 9.5 million Afghan children, with around 40 percent of them girls, attend 15,000 schools across the country now, according to education officials.