As Bibbs and Dixon struggle to get off the "F" list, principals and teachers are working overtime, and children are focused as they study in small groups, aided by an influx of volunteers serving as mentors.
But one American adviser working with Afghan officials warned that a belated influx of aid and attention might not produce immediate change.
The latest influx of aid comes on top of $60 million in humanitarian aid that the United States has sent to Pakistan since last August, and $400 million the administration has requested from Congress to improve the counterinsurgency abilities of the Pakistani military.
And the influx of aid has brought problems.
Famine was averted this year, partly due to a large influx of aid and partly because of good rains.
The country's creaking, Soviet-trained government bureaucracies lack the administrative capacity to absorb a huge influx of aid.
Meanwhile, the influx of aid has, in many cases, created dependency, fed corruption, contributed to insecurity and undermined the host government's capacity to oversee sustainable programs.
But international and Afghan health experts warn that it faces the additional vulnerabilities of countries emerging from conflict -- lack of education and government services, mass movements of people and a sudden influx of aid money, commerce and outsiders.
Despite the influx in aid, they say they are still in need of slab foundations and sturdier roofs, new tillers (or new water buffaloes) and money for seeds, fertilizer and school fees.
Mr Coutts hopes an influx of aid will also allow "food-for-work" on repairs and expansions to dykes and embankments; silted-up rivers need dredging.Some things, however, are beyond the control of Bangladesh and its foreign donors.
