By Atia FarAzar and Freshta Ghani
A few weeks ago, Farida and Jamila went to the department of education in Taloqan, capital of northern Takhar province, to apply for teaching jobs. Though they go on different days, their experiences were remarkably similar: First Taliban officials tell them that there are no job openings. Later, they ask them to pay bribes as high as 150,000 afghanis in exchange for jobs that pays about 95,000 afghanis a year.
Farida has a bachelor’s degree and a diploma from teaching school. As the Taliban has restricted women from working in sectors other than health and education, she decides to apply for a teaching job. Two weeks ago, she visited the department of education in Taloqan to submit her job application. But a Taliban official tells her, “There are no job openings and there will be no hirings this year.”
Farida is disheartened and wants to leave the building when she meets a woman who tells her that she needs to pay a bribe. She advises Farida to find a middleman who can arrange the exchange.
After a lot of effort, Farida finds a person who works in the department of education in Taloqan. “That person told me that he can appoint me as a teacher, but there are two conditions. One, I must pay him 120,000 afghanis up front to be appointed as a teacher, and two, this transaction should remain a secret. It should not be known to a third party,” she tells Zan Times.
Farida explains that while she is qualified, she can’t pay the bribe. “He got infuriated and said, ‘Then why did you waste my time? Our bosses in the ministry of education do nothing without money. I don’t take all the money myself; we share it,’” she adds.
That was the day that Farida abandoned hope of getting a job as a teacher.
Jamila is currently working as a teacher in a public school in Takhar province. Three weeks ago, she went to the education department to apply for a teaching job for her sister, who accompanied her and brought her documents and degrees.
“One of the officials told us that there is no hiring this year. When we insisted and complained about our economic situation, he told us in a low voice: ‘Bring 150,000 afghanis, you will be immediately appointed,’” Jamila recounts in a phone interview with Zan Times.
The sisters explained that they don’t have any money, and that is why they were looking for a job. He then directed them to meet with the principal of a school.
“At first the school principal demanded 150,000 afghanis. Then he brought it down to 120,000 afghanis, and finally, he demanded 100,000 afghanis, saying that we wouldn’t [need to] pay him until after we signed the contract,” Jamila recounts.
However, even 100,000 afghanis was too high a price for them.
Last week, five experienced teachers were fired from the school where Jamila teaches. “New teachers are supposed to be appointed in their place,” she says.
Jamila, sole breadwinner of her family of nine, is worried that she will be fired from her job. “The economic situation of our family is meagre. We make ends meet with 8,000 afghanis I make, but now I am afraid that I will be fired.”
She says that principals and other officials are now motivated to fire existing teachers and sell their positions to those who can afford to pay the bribes. “Here, you either have to pay a huge bribe or have a strong connection within the Taliban to stay in your position as a teacher; we have none,” she explains.
“This is absolutely a lie; no clerk can take bribes under Islamic Emirate,” Mawlawi Hizbullah Mubasher, the Taliban’s director of education in Takhar, told Zan Times, adding that they have recruited 180 female teachers this year.
This is not the first time that accounts of Taliban extortion and corruption have been reported. In July, a Taliban official of education department in Bamyan was reportedly arrested for raping a woman to whom he promised a teaching job.
There are also reports of the Taliban extorting money from local people so they can play music or work as street vendors.
Names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees.
