Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will make an assessment of the security situation for schools in Afghanistan.

In 2018, 513,962 children (187,082 girls and 326,880 boys) were unable to continue their education due to the closure of over 1,000 schools related to security reasons in Afghanistan. According to UNICEF this marks a fourfold increase to the previous year.

DFID has invested in the Education Cannot Wait Global Fund which supports the Education in Emergencies Working Group led by the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan. Its aim is to ensure every child in Afghanistan can learn without fear and in safety, and to enable them to reach their full potential.