Afghanistan: learning the hard way

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Mohammed Nadeem is 17.

He's a pupil at the Habibia High School in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

And he spends one day each month searching his fellow students on entry.

It's part of a government-imposed security scheme in response to growing fears of attack.

SOUNDBITE: MOHAMMED NADEEM, HABIBIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, SAYING (Dari):

"I'm guarding and searching schoolboys once a month in order to prevent anarchy. I also don't allow those who want to break school rules."

The heightened security at boys' schools is partly a result of attacks on female students.

These girls were poisoned by contaminated water.

There've also been attacks on teachers and schools have been destroyed, predominantly in the conservative south and east of Afghanistan.

That's where the Taliban insurgency draws much of its support.

The Afghan intelligence service says some of the attacks are carried out by pupils or school staff bribed to do so.

The Taliban denies involvement and says it's part of a campaign to tarnish its reputation.

But fear is taking its toll.

The head of the Habibia High School is Sayed Shahlala Bakawli.

SOUNDBITE: SAYED SHAHLALA BAKAWLI, HEADMASTER OF HABIBIA HIGH SCHOOL, SAYING (Dari):

"We hear that there are some attacks on schools in the provinces, (HE SAYS). God forbid we have such incidents in Kabul. Because of such attacks we started a progamme to provide better security and discipline for our school and students."

Afghanistan''s intelligence agency says the Taliban is bent on closing schools before the withdrawal of most foreign troops in 2014.

Thousands of Afghan students, mostly girls, are being denied an education as schools shut down.

Such closures also raise questions about the ability of Afghanistan's own forces to hold on to hard-earned gains like women's rights and civil liberties on their own.

Paul Chapman, Reuters