KABUL, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's Ministry of Education has constructed or reconstructed 1,208 schools and madrasa (religious seminary) buildings across the country over the past nine months, the ministry announced late Sunday.
A total of 238 new school and madrasa buildings were constructed in 19 of the country's 34 provinces at a cost of about 2.5 billion afghani (about 37.76 million U.S. dollars), funded by the ministry's budget, aid organizations and private donors, said Mansoor Ahmad Hamza, spokesman for the ministry.
In addition, reconstruction work was completed on 970 existing schools and seminaries valued at 1.27 billion afghanis in 31 provinces during the cited period, the official added.
Most of the projects have been completed, with only a small number still underway, according to the spokesman.
Millions of children across Afghanistan remain deprived of formal education due to poverty, internal displacement and limited access to nearby schools in the impoverished nation. ■
