PESHAWAR, July 10: Many young Afghan women in the Frontier are doing short courses in Information Technology nowadays with an aim to play an active role in the reconstruction of their war-ravaged country.

Talking to Dawn, many Afghan girl students said they wanted to be computer literate because Afghanistan needed skilled workforce and computer education would help find them a better job.

These Afghan women were of the view that they would be considered a burden on economy if they were not properly skilled and educated. They could play their part in the development of their country only if they equip themselves with education and modern technology.

Most of the Afghan girls belong to families which have lost their property in Afghanistan and now they want to shoulder the financial burden with their male family members.

Aqsa, a teacher at a computer and management sciences institute, said knowledge of computer was equally important for women who wanted to take part in the reconstruction of their country.

“There are almost 50 Afghan girls in the IT class and the number is increasing day by day,” she said.

Most of the students are interested in the Microsoft Office User’s Specialist (MOUS), which is mostly used in office work. The students can learn the basics in a short period of time at Rs1000. Some institutes also offer concessions to the Afghan students specially for short courses.

Most of these women believe that complete peace would be restored in Afghanistan soon and they would be able to play their part in the development of their country.

A student Khwaga said she would like to return to her country only if there was peace and job opportunities for them. She said it was almost one month that she had been attending computer classes and she had learnt a lot during that period. She said she would like to work for Afghan airline. Since computers were extensively used in all airlines nowadays it was necessary that every one had knowledge about this technology, she added.