[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.
[00:05.50]Security risks are set to be widespread in the southern Afghan Province of Kandahar.
[00:12.58]Yet the number of women working in Kandahar has risen during the past year.
[00:19.15]Jawaid Faisal is a spokesman for Kandahar's governor.
[00:24.95]Mr Faisal told VOA's Afghan service that the provincial government employs more than 1,150 women, most of them as teachers.
[00:36.63]That is up from about 900 female teachers last year.
[00:44.46]Kandahar is the former power base of the Taliban and its leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar,
[00:50.34]he disappeared in 2001 after United States led forces ousted the Taliban from power.
[00:58.06]The Taliban ruled Kandahar from 1994 to 2002. During that period,
[01:07.32]women were banned from working outside the home,
[01:10.63]most girls could not attend school and no girls graduated.
[01:18.09]This year, 500 girls will complete high school.
[01:22.66]Mohammad Ewaz Nazari is an education official in the province.
[01:28.43]He said Kandahar has about 47,000 female students and the numbers are rising.
[01:36.74]He described an increasing demand for jobs among both educated and uneducated women.
[01:44.09]Mr Nazari said 600 illiterate women have asked the government to help them find work.
[01:53.45]He said the provincial government is attempting to find jobs for these women who can not read or write.
[02:02.33]In addition to government positions such as teachers, women are also working for private businesses.
[02:11.47]Maryam Durani operates a local radio station, she is also a leading women's rights activist.
[02:20.98]She won the International Women of Courage Award in 2012, an award given by the American secretary of state.
[02:31.93]Maryam Durani said women in Kandahar need more job opportunities,
[02:38.40]but she also said they must consolidate, strengthen the gains they already made.
[02:45.96]A non-governmental group, the Afghan School project has given women year long scholarships that can led to Koreas.
[02:57.71]The recipients attend programs at the Kandahar Institute of Modern Studies.
[03:04.64]The Institute offers training in Business Management, Information Technology, English and Communications.
[03:15.43]Some Afghans have expressed concern that the Taliban could regain power,
[03:24.06]now that US troops are moving toward the end of fighting in Afghanistan.
[03:30.33]And they say the progress of women's rights could be lost if that happens.
[03:37.16]From VOA Learning English, that's the Education Report.