But even in Salar, changes are afoot, beginning with the villagers’ insistence on their local elementary school for girls. But what the school will become — a formal public school paving the way to higher education, a religious madrasa, or something in between — is uncertain, like the future of the village and the country. In most districts, the Taliban have prohibited girls ages 12-17 from going to public school. Several public girls’ schools were burned down in 2007 in the province. “If they don’t allow girls to go to this school now, there will be an uprising,” said village elder Abdul Hadi Khan.
