GIRLS EDUCATION IN AFGHANISTAN AT A GLANCE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Islamic Republic of Afghanistan June,12, 2008 Susan Wardak

“By 2020 all children in Afghanistan, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary education.” Afghanistan’s MDG for Education Education is the right of all citizens of Afghanistan, which shall be offered up to BA level in the State educational institutes free of charge by the State. Article 43 of the 1382 Constitution Islamic Republic of Afghanistan By 1389 (2010) Net enrolment rate for boys and girls in primary grades will be at least 75% and 60% respectively. Female teachers will be increased by 50%. A new curriculum will be operational in secondary schools 70% of teachers will pass a national competency test National annual testing system for students will be in place Afghanistan Compact

Even though, student enrollment increased 500% (from 900,000 to over 6.4 million) since 2002, still more than half of the school-age children are still out of school and majority of them are girls; Only 40% of our schoolsOnly 40% of our schools have buildings. Thousands of communities have no easy access to schools and even out of that only 25% of schools have usable buildings and most schools remain under tents or the open sky Shortage of female teachers (only 38% female) Insecurity: There continues to be open threats to kill teachers. A bounty of Afs 50,000 (US$1,000) for every female teacher was announced through night letters recently in certain parts of the country. Retention of girls in school

■More than three thousand schools were rehabilitated or newly built during the past years and 1000 more are in the plan for Program performance data show that of the students enrolled in 2007, 45% are girls and that 35% of teachers in provinces (at that time this was 12 out of a total of 34 provinces) are female (in 2003, it was 14%). A new curricula for secondary schools (for the first time in decades) has been developed and the textbooks development is in progress Establishment of 14 new Teacher Training Colleges (TTC) Increasing the enrollment of student in TTC up to 42% Construction of teaching facilities and female dormitories for TTCs Decentralization of teacher recruitment is part of the structural reform that is fully designed and in the loop for implementation

A cross cutting and overarching objective that the MOE promotes in all its activities, has been the promotion of girls’ education and increasing the numbers of trained female teachers and principals. Program design included the following elements: (i) Prioritization of girls’ schools; priority in school construction is given to: –(a) girls schools; –(b) schools with boys and girls’ sections/shifts; –(c) boys schools who will open up sections/shifts for girls (iii) Strong element of social mobilization to motivate and encourage local communities to send girls to school; (iv) Female representation in the establishment of SMCs and PTAs; and (v) Emphasis on recruitment and training of female teachers: (Incentive scheme)

Name of the Partnership: Afghanistan Girls’ Education Initiative (AGEI) Launched in March 2007 Members includes: MoWA, CIDA- Canada, Sida-Swedish, UNESCO, USAID, JICA, UNIFEM, WFP, OXFAM, PACE (CARE, IRC, CRS, AKF), WORLD BANK, AWEC, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, Human Right Commission, HRRAC, DANIDA and UNICEF. Level of operation: national level

Working Group (Chair: MoE, Co-Chair: rotation- base) 8 Small Working Groups: (Chair: MoE, Co-Chair: Leaders) 1.Literacy 2.ECD 3.Community Participation and Youth 4.School Construction 5.School Feeding 6.Out of School 7.Female Teachers 8.Priority Program for Girl’s Education

Ministry took ownership Situation Analysis conducted and the findings were presented to partners ECD Policy drafted A national Girls’ Education Communication Strategy development in progress Big diversity of the composition of the member organizations – difference in interests/approaches, and coming to a consensus. Difficulty in sharing the information on progress from WG While developing the work plan, the operation plan of the National Education Strategic Plan is utilized – there are organizations feeling difficult to make their projects/activities fit to the national plan. Some Small Working Groups are not very active.

Strengthening AGEI Working Group/Small Working Groups, –by restructuring the groups –by providing clear area that they can focus in each group, –by creating an e-forum or e-group for the AGEI Working Group to check the updates from each small working groups. –by developing IEC materials (posters/brochures) of the AGEI –By conducting a Review Workshop for the AGEI – progress/challenges in September 08. Ideas on further activities by AGEI Working Group & Small Working Groups as: –pilot intervention – making all the schools accessible to girls in a selected province. –gender sensitization for teachers/School Management Committees. –analyzing the data of the school infrastructure/learning environment of schools in the country, and presenting the results to the Department of Construction to make the schools girls’ friendly. Strengthening Young Champions both by number and capacity, –by developing a training material for young champions, and train the youths available at provincial youth centres as young champions