Education Sector in Afghanistan

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Education Sectorin Afghanistan
By Agnès de Geoffroy and Amélie Banzet LRRD
project
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Important features

• Highest enrolment rate in Afghanistan history,
  with more than half of the 7 to 13 aged children
  enrolled (35 to 40 are girls). More than 6
  millions children are in school (2 millions in
  2002). Increasing influx
• Weak urbanization rate
• High diversity among regions depending on
  different factors
• level of infrastructure destruction,
• geographical constraints,
• securitygtaccess
• girl enrolment and cultural factor
• High diversity among populations
• over aged children,
• illiterate adults,
• returnees,
• minorities,
• Nomadic
• Specificity of provinces visited

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Major reforms since 2001

• New constitution of 2004 Basic education free
  and compulsory
• New Curriculum and elaboration of the new
  textbooks under process
• First steps of the PRR

Primary education (grade 1 6)
Basic education free and compulsory
Intermediate secondary (grade 7 9)
High school (grade 10 12)
Vocational training
Religious schools
National concours
University
Vocational training
Teacher Training College
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A centralised education service delivery

• A centralised Ministry with improved capacities,
  challenged by an important turn over
• National policies and strategies.
• During the emergency phase focused on a  Back to
  school  strategy,
• The priority is now given to a better access to
  quality education and to gaps in the new
  education system (vocational training, religious
  schools)
• The Provincial Education Department is bound to
  play a key role but has to be strengthened
  (unequal capacities, lack of means and of
  competences)

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Donors as key actors of strategy implementation
(1)

• Ministry of Education highly dependent on donors
  funding

Donor Key areas of support Approximate commitments (year)
USAID School construction Textbooks printing Accelerated learning Radio Based teacher training Capacity building MoE/MoHE 2002 6,5M 20038,4M 2004107,4M 200597,9M 200697M
UNICEF Back to school campaign (tent, learning material) School rehabilitation and construction Curriculum and textbook development Winter/summer teacher training 2002-2003 35M 2004 11,5M
DANIDA Curriculum development Textbook printing Teacher training Capacity building School construction 2004-2006 15M
JICA School construction (Kabul, Kandahar, Balkh,Bamiyan) and teacher training Capacity building Equipment for higher education institutions Non formal education 2002-2005 15M
World Bank Schools grants University block grant Training for teachers and principals Support for policy developmenet and Education Management Information System Support for PEDs and DEDs 2002-2004 15M 2004-2009 40M
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Donors as key actors of strategy development (2)

• National strategies in evolution, USAID
  APEP (create conditions for stability meet
  urgent needs) -gtABEP (access to education of
  quality improve quality and access to education
  ), with a big impact on afghan NGOs development,
  and WB from the Emergency Education
  Rehabilitation and Development Project to
  Education QUality Improvement Programme with high
  focus on community, district and provincial level
  authorities involvement.
• Concept and development schemes exogenous.
  Decentralisation, objectives too ambitious
• Difficult attempts of coordination at national
  level with MoE (USAID funds channelled through
  outside budget) , except for the Teacher
  Education Programme

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Synchronization of aid agencies with national
policies

• UN agencies supporting the government in policy
  design and implementation
• INGO projects increasingly in accordance with
  national policies (MoU)
• Massive hand over of NGO supported schools,
  priority shifted to quality in basic education,
  Community Based Schools, accelerated learning and
  literacy
• We met two main types of NGOs some as
  implementing and facilitating partners, other
  designing their own projects (windows of
  opportunities, broader margin of manoeuvre)
• Coordination at provincial level exists, but an
  interesting collaboration could be set with
  better competences and means at provincial level

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Which involvement from the community?

• Increased involvement of communities in
  education projects
• Community and families involvement are crucial to
  avoid or minimize security problems and drop out
  (Parents and teachers Associations, School
  Management Committees) and to increase awareness
• Participation in kind or in cash is sometimes
  required. For the Community Based Schools,
  participation of the community is requested to
  provide a place, a teacher, and sometimes a
  contribution for teacher salary.
• What is the accuracy of requesting financial
  contribution if it doesnt ensure the
  sustainability of the project?
• In some cases, at the school level, community is
  implementing the project (need assessment,
  contracting and monitoring) with NGO as
  facilitating partners (pilot project of
  Badakhshan where local authorities are playing
  the role of the NGO).
• Is the community the right stakeholder to define
  its own real needs?

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Other issues for debate

• What is quality in education?
• Future capacity of the State to handle the
  education system
• To face the high influx of students?
• To integrate newly created schools?
• To rationalize teaching staff (quantity, quality,
  certification, too low salaries)
• What outcomes and what benefits after basic
  education (vocational training, access to higher
  education)?