How the War on Terror created ghost schools

Economic statistics and geopolitical intrigue can crowd out the Afghanistan war's impact on the people of the country. In this memo, we explore how the war has affected the lives of school going children.👇

Ghost Schools. Siphoning off funds allocated for public projects, such as schools, is rampant. One such example of this stands in Deh-e-Bagh, Kandahar.

While US records say it was completed “at cost and up to standard”, reporters investigating it have a different story to tell. Built to provide a “tangible source of community pride” for the local people, the school is a partially completed building that has never been used.

A trail of corruption. A close investigation uncovers the dirty truth: the contractor constructing the school teamed up with the district governor’s brother. Half the funds were paid out, and the rest conveniently siphoned off.

Rewriting the past. Fatay Khan Construction Company (FKCC)—owned by the district governor’s brother— archived its website and denied any involvement with the school in Kandahar. The modus operandi: steal funds, cover up the paper trail, shift to another country (often the UAE).

An open secret. The district governor was a US ally, so although they knew about the corruption, they chose to look the other way. At the end of the day, it is the village children who suffer the most—they study in the open, without access to trained teachers or proper resources.

UNICEF-affiliated teachers devote their scarce time teaching subjects like math and reading to the boys. The girls? Restricted to local religious teachers — many of whom adopt a rigid, ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ approach to learning.

Bottom line. The wealthy and powerful punch the escape ticket, while the damage they profited from is very much left behind. A sobering thought: do the children look at the hollow and empty ghost schools, and think of the buildings as a metaphor for their future?