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The ARTF was established in 2002 as a way to support the Afghanistan government.

The statement comes after Afghanistan officials publicly acknowledged a report pointing to alleged corruption within its ministry.

“Earlier this month, the Minister of Education Assadullah Hanif Balkhi said that a recent study found that only six million Afghan children are in fact at school — contrary to the 11 million as previously stated by the former government,” said a Jan. 9 media report by Afghanistan’s TOLOnews.

In other words, only about half the number of children the previous Afghan government led by former president Hamid Karzai reported to be in school are actually attending classes.

Afghanistan’s ambassador to Canada, Shinkai Karokhail, was not immediately available for comment, but a spokesman said the National Unity Government led by President Ashraf Ghani was determined to get to the bottom of it.

“Our government has taken the allegations seriously and the issue is under review,” said Khalid Khosraw, a spokesman for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Ottawa, in an email to the Citizen.

“The findings will be public at the end of inquiry,” Khosraw said.

Canada’s embassy to Afghanistan said it was perturbed by the allegations, posting the following statement on Twitter the next day.

“We are aware of allegations of corruption against the Min. of Education & the EQUIP prog. We are concerned and looking at potential follow-up,” the Canadian embassy said on Jan. 10.

The post came hours before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled his cabinet to adjust for a new U.S. administration.