Centre d'Enseignement Français en Afghanistan

The Centre d'Enseignement Français en Afghanistan (CEFA) consists of two Franco-Afghan schools in the center of Kabul, Afghanistan, together educating around 6,000 Afghan students.[2]

Lycée Esteqlal
Location
District 2, Kabul

Afghanistan
Information
TypePublic
Established1922
Teaching staff300
Number of students5,700[1]
Website

The Lycée Esteqlal (Persian: لیسه استقلال English: Esteqlal High School) is a Franco-Afghan school in Kabul, Afghanistan. It is the second oldest school (after Habibia High School) in Kabul, and is recognized as the most prestigious school in the country.

Lycée Esteqlal is a public school, administered by the Afghan Ministry of Education, and is currently under the contract of AEFE, an educational agency of the French Foreign Ministry. The French Cultural Center (CCF) is also located inside the Lycée Esteqlal compound.

Further information

Created under the impulse of King Amanullah in 1922 as Amaniya School, it was renamed in 1931 to Lycée Esteqlal (meaning "independence" in Persian). In 1968, French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou laid the first brick of modern buildings, and the new site was inaugurated in 1974. The curriculum was entirely in the French language until 1985 when diplomatic relations between France and Afghanistan were suspended under the communist regime. Since 2002, only a few subjects, such as French language, mathematics and physics, are taught in French, and the rest in Persian.

Until 1985, Lycée Esteqlal did not only receive Afghan students, but also several French nationals who were related to the French Embassy's diplomatic staff. Lycée Esteqlal along with Lycée Malalaï (Persian: لیسه ملالی), which is the other Franco-Afghan school for girls in Kabul were rebuilt and reopened at the beginning of 2003, and currently they are under the contract of Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger.

King Amanullah, who was progressive and democratic also oversaw the opening of the first girls school, Masturat, in 1921. Masturat was closed between 1928 and 1932, then reopened in 1932 through the efforts of the new King Nadir Shah and became a girls secondary school in 1939, led by a French teacher. Seven hours a week of French was taught from the primary year upwards. In 1942, the school moved to a new building and took the name of Lycée Malalai, from the name of a famous Afghan woman who fought in the resistance against the invading English in 1880 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.[3][4][5]

In 2014 a suicide bomber attacked a cultural center at Esteqlal High School, killing a German national and injuring 16.[6] One of the injured was musician Ahmad Naser Sarmast.[7]

Notable alumni

Many internationally renowned Afghan personalities and figures have received part of their education or have obtained their baccalaureate in Lycée Esteqlal.

Notes
  1. Soutien aux lycées Esteqlal et Malalaï, French Embassy in Afghanistan
  2. "Centre d'Enseignement Français en Afghanistan (CEFA)" (Archive). AEFE. October 17, 2005. Retrieved on May 6, 2015.
  3. Chaussé, Caroline (December 2001 – February 2002). "Plus de soixante années de coopération franco-afghane" (in French). Paris: France Culture. Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  4. "Lycées français de Kaboul - Historique" (in French). Kabul: website of the French Lycées in Kabul. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  5. D'Afghanistan, Leylâ (2003). "La genèse du droit de la femme en Afghanistan" (PDF). Les Cahiers du Cremoc (in French). Paris: CREMOC (Centre de recherche sur l'Europe et le monde contemporain) (36). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-18. Retrieved 2009-11-06.
  6. "Suicide bomber targets French school in Kabul." Al Jazeera. 11 December 2014. Retrieved on May 6, 2015.
  7. "Kabul suicide bomber attacks French school during show." BBC. 11 December 2014. Retrieved on 6 May 2015.
  8. Gall, Sandy (2021). Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmad Shah Massoud. London: Haus Publishing. pp. 20–21, 22. ISBN 978-1-913368-22-7.
  9. Rubin, Barnett (1995). The fragmentation of Afghanistan. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 228–229. ISBN 0-300-05963-9.
  10. J. Bruce Amstutz. Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation. DIANE Publishing, 1994. ISBN 0-7881-1111-6, ISBN 978-0-7881-1111-2, p.119
  11. "Interview: Atiq Rahimi on language and expression in Afghanistan". Financial Times.
  12. "The Border Has To Be Crossed: Alie Ataee and Atiq Rahimi in conversation with Amir Ahmadi Arian". University of Notre Dame Research.
  13. Bewig, Matt (2012-01-15). "Ambassador from Afghanistan: Who Is Eklil Ahmad Hakimi?". AllGov. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
  14. Adamec, Ludwig W. (2012). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan (4th ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 412. ISBN 9780810878150.
  15. "Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Issues (Third Committee): Chairperson of the 73rd Session". General Assembly of the United Nations.
  16. "Biography of Mir Mohammad Sidiq Farhang". Afghan-Web.
  17. "Afghan Bios: Rawan Farhadi". Archived from the original on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  18. Ansary, Tamim (2002). West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story. Picador. p. 90. Istlaqal was the second-oldest school[...] - The name of the Esteqlal school is spelled "Istlaqal" in the book.
  19. Biography, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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