300 street children in Herat included in vocational programs during this year: officials

The Department of Labor and Social Affairs in Herat says it rounds up more than 2,000 street children every year and includes them in technical and vocational training programs.

According to the department officials, about 300 of these children were included into technical and vocational programs in the first few months of this year.

“During this year, we surveyed about 500 street children, 300 of them were included in technical and vocational programs,” said Abdullah Suri, deputy head of the Labor and Social Affairs Department in Herat.

Meanwhile, a charity foundation named “Atefi” in Herat province has recently provided the opportunity of technical and vocational training programs to 100 orphans and poor children who will be taught tailoring skills, how to repair phones and other professions in the next six months.

The foundation’s authorities say their goal is to create job opportunities for orphaned children.

During this year, 200 of these children have been covered by technical and vocational programs, the foundation’s officials said.

“One hundred orphaned and needy young children from different areas of Herat city were surveyed and today, Inshallah, their educational workshop, which includes sewing, phone repairing and embroidering bags, will be inaugurated by the elders of Islamic Emirate,” said Abdul Zahir Irshad, the foundation’s head.

Experts however believe that in the current situation there is a need to provide more educational opportunities for these children and the government is obliged to take care of these children along with their families with the cooperation of the helping institutions.