KABUL (PAN): Contracts for constructing 13 school buildings in eight different provinces of the country over the next six months were signed on Tuesday, officials said.

Studying opportunities for nearly 8,500 students would be generated with the construction of the schools, costing more than $1.6 million.

Funded by the education ministry, World Bank and Denmark, the projects will be executed in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kabul, Ghazni, Herat, Badghis, Kunduz and Baghlan provinces, said Education Minister Farooq Wardak, who signed the contracts with different construction firms.

Sixteen containers would be sent to Ghazni and Nangarhar provinces, where they would be used as school stores, said the education ministry's media officer, Abdul Saboor Ghofrani.

Nearly, 7,000 schools are currently operating in rented buildings, under tents and the open sky, he said. Over the past 10 years, 10,700 school buildings have been constructed across the county.

myn/mud