Afghanistan to allocate bulk of budget to education

Afghan schoolgirls line up to welcome President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, where he addressed about a thousand teachers about the country's education system.

KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said this week that the bulk of the war-torn country's annual budget needed to be spent on health and education and the defense and interior ministries would have to cut back to help out.

"There should be a cut from all the ministry budgets, especially from defense, interior and intelligence,"" Karzai told a seminar attended by Defence Minister Mohammad Fahim and Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak.

"The money should go on health and education."

The two ministers were not immediately available for comment, but their portfolios are crucial as the country struggles with recovery following 23 years of war.

International donors have pledged $4.5 billion in aid to the country, but much of it will be spent on maintaining security in Kabul and in the countryside where warlords still hold sway.

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"During my meetings (with officials and the people) so far, Afghans first asked for security and peace and to get rid of guns and then they asked for an improvement to education," Karzai said, adding that he would like all aid money to be channelled through Afghan institutions.

Schools are slowly reopening in Afghanistan -- girls were banned from attending under the Taliban -- but child labour has become an established part of the work force in a country where many traditional breadwinners have been maimed or killed.

Afghanistan has not had a formal budget for years, but the United Nations estimates that it will cost at least $400 million a year to run the government.

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