KABUL, Feb 5 (NNN-IRIN) — Over the past year dozens of schools have reopened in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in part due to an accommodation with Taliban insurgents, Education Ministry officials say.

Of the 283 state-funded schools in the province, over 220 were closed in 2008 due to general insecurity and direct attacks, Helmand?s department of education said.

?Two years ago we had only 56 functioning schools in Helmand Province but in the past year we have reopened over 60 schools and now we have about 116 functioning schools,? Mohammad Wali, deputy director of the provincial education department, told IRIN.

Asif Nang, a Ministry of Education (MoE) spokesman in Kabul, told IRIN even more schools (105) had reopened in the past year, meaning that the province had about 170 functioning schools.

He attributed the reopenings to local support and a tacit rapprochement with the insurgents.

?Tribal and religious elders have helped us a lot and have convinced the government?s opposition [the Taliban] to allow the reopening of schools,? Nang said.

The MoE said it had also brought together various local actors (religious leaders, tribal elders, parents and government offices) in local ?school support councils? which have been campaigning for the protection of schools in insecure areas.

However, only a few of the recently reopened schools in Helmand are girls? schools, according to officials.

There were three girls? high schools and a few primary schools for girls, said Wali, adding that about 16,000 girls and over 66,000 boys were enrolled at schools in the province.

Most of the female students attend schools in the provincial capital, Lashkargah, where the insurgents? influence is limited.

The Taliban had banned girls from attending schools, and women from working, during their rule (1994-2001), and a notorious acid attack maimed a number of girls in Kandahar in 2008, but a statement issued by the ?Taliban Leadership Council? on Jan 27 said: ?The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is determined to take constructive steps with regard to education for all compatriots based on Islam and the requirements of the current age.?

The MoE said it had agreed to Taliban conditions for the reopening of schools. The insurgents have demanded that the curriculum be in full compliance with Islamic values, and girls must wear the `hijab?.

?Female students must wear an appropriate `hijab? in accordance with local traditions,? MoE?s Nang confirmed.

Hafiz Nasrullah, who claims to be the Taliban?s shadow deputy governor of Helmand Province, denied the insurgents were against formal education.

?We have no problem with schools and do not torch them? We only want the curriculum to be Islamic,? he told IRIN, adding that the insurgents could, however, still attack schools occupied by pro-government forces.

At least 60 schools were either torched or destroyed in Afghanistan in 2009; 42 were reconstructed in development projects, according to MoE. — NNN-IRIN

• PEACE RETURNS TO MALDIVES CAPITAL AFTER RESIGNATION OF PRESIDENT NASHEED
• MORE THAN 700 PASSENGERS RESCUED FROM FERRY STRANDED OFF CHINA'S HAINAN ISLAND
• PM SAYS EGYPT'S MILITARY WILL REMAIN IN POWER UNTIL JUNE 30
• SOUTH KOREAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER RESIGNS OVER BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS
• AT LEAST 10KILLED IN SUICIDE CAR BOMB BLAST IN MOGADISHU