HRD Ministry worries about security for its team of teachers

Expected to lend a helping hand to Kabul, a nervous HRD Ministry will first ensure ‘‘security’’ before sending its team of teachers’ trainers, experts and academics to Afghanistan by May-end.

Expected to lend a helping hand to Kabul, a nervous Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry will first ensure ‘‘security’’ before sending its team of teachers’ trainers, experts and academics to Afghanistan by May-end.

Sources told The Indian Express that the ministry, in the wake of the cold-blooded killing of Indian engineer K Suryanarayan, will ‘‘raise security concerns’’ of the contingent, which is expected to visit Afghanistan by the end of this month.

Though ministry mandarins are not yet talking about any specific request for their team of experts, the Joint Working Group of the Indian Government officials will ask for adequate security for the group from Afghan counterparts.

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This helping hand in the education sector follows a recent pact between HRD Minister Arjun Singh and his Afghan counterpart when Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited India last month. The deal signed between Singh and Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah on behalf of the Afghan education minister, came months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated a school in Kabul last year.

The sources said Indian teachers and trainers, mainly drawn from NCERT, would be going to Afghanistan to train their teachers. ‘‘This teachers’ training,’’ the sources added, ‘‘will require Indian trainers to spend months, if not years, in far-flung areas of Afghanistan. This could mean going to obscure villages, where schools and infrastructure barely exist. So, we will ask for adequate security for these people.’’

Afghanistan also requires help in primary education, and people associated with National Literacy Mission in India will be flown to Kabul and other places. Since most of these activities would require a lot of ‘‘field visits’’, there is a need to ensure safety for the Indians, sources said.