1. Aga Khan Foundation – Afghanistan (AKF-A)

2. Girls’ Education Support Programme (GESP) A successful effort of the Aga Khan Foundation to increase the access to education for girls in deprived areas of Afghanistan

4. Background “ Afghanistan where God only comes to weep” (Siba Shakib.2002) Three decades of armed conflict. Poverty, political and climate-related disasters. Deep-rooted cultural taboos. Lack of Schools and School infrastructure. Shortage of qualified teachers and learning materials. Wide gender disparity in literacy, enrollment, dropout, attendance and completion rates.

5. Continued… Security: Most insecure country in the world after Somalia. (in 2012 about 517 schools were closed due to security, 275,000 students deprived). MoE estimates that 3.5 million school-age children are out of school. The majority are girls. 400,000 students dropout each year.

6. Girls Education 2011 no qualified teachers in 230 districts (56% of districts). There are no female teachers in about 80 districts. No qualified female teachers in the majority of districts especially for secondary grades. No Girls are enrolled in upper secondary in 158 districts (39% of all districts).

7. 47% of schools have unusable buildings. 70% of schools buildings lack surrounding walls. 30% of schools lack drinking water facilities. 60% lack sanitation facilities. 88% Lack of electricity. ( all are reasons leading to girls dropout). (All figures are taken from the Education Joint Sector Review 2012, 2013, and National Education Strategy Plan 2014 – 2020 draft version) Continued…

8. AKF Education Programme Coverage

9. Our Key Programmes Early Childhood Education Community Based Education Government School Support Program Supporting and strengthen MoE institutions (PEDs/DEDs, and TTCs)

10. Strengths Work at three levels (Policy, Capacity Building, Delivery) Work for Continuity of Education (ECD, Primary, Secondary, TTC/Sub TTC, University) ECD AKF is considered a pioneer of ECD (MoE acknowledgement) Partnership (MoE, Communities, Teachers/ Students, Sister Institutions, NGOs) Community Ownership

11. Overall AKF Achievements (from 2008 till June 2015) Intervention Areas 2008-09June 2015 % Increase in Coverage Total Schools 380 921142% -AKF Supported Schools 19228850% -AKF CBE-Primary 158480204% -AKF ECD 24141488% -TTCs 612100% Teachers (All Teachers) 2,7185,651108% -Male 2,0663,52170% -Females 6522,130227% Students (All Students) 97,113174,61780% -Boys 58,36896,86166% -Girls 38,74577,756101%

12. Comparison (2008-2015) – AKF supported Schools (Governments, CBEs, ECDs, TTCs)

13. Comparison(2008-2015) –AKF supported Teachers & Students,(Governments, CBEs, ECDs, TTCs)

14. Girls Education Support Programme (GESP) Start & End Date: May 2008 – October 2015 including 2 years extension (January 2014-October 2015) Worked with 216 government schools Key objectives: To increase access to learning opportunities To improve quality of teaching and learning practices To enhance capacity and commitment among stakeholders Funded: DFATD Implemented in Baghlan, Badakhshan and Bamyan/Parwan covering 25 districts. GESP is considered a very successful programme and one utilising ‘best practice’

15. GESP AKF-A’s Innovative Approach for Access of Girls Education Components of GESP: Early Childhood Development (ECD) Flexible Responsible Fund (FRF) Community Engagement Capacity building (Support PEDs and DEDs) TTC Girls’ Dormitory Construction Rest of the presentation will focus on FRF, a very successful innovative approach which is a key component of GESP

16. Flexible Response Fund (FRF) FRF ranges from a short term initiative to a long term solution. FRF was reserved to responsively address the array of barriers preventing Afghan girls from entry and retention into the upper grades. FRF was researched and selected as a ‘best practice’ solution. It played a vital and successful role in increasing the enrolment of girls in all grades.

17. Continued… Funds are allocated by local communities/schools/and AKF offices according to the perceived needs of the girls and are administered in partnership with the Department of Education A mechanism for needs-based analysis with communities and local education authorities was created to identify specific activities which promote the attendance of girls.

18. Flexible Response Fund (FRF) A ‘Best Practice’ ChallengesSolution DistanceStipends or Transportation were provided for girls to complete 12th grade and 2 year TTCs Lack of Female Teachers at Schools Incentive, or Transportation were provided for female teachers from urban communities to teach in rural remote schools Boundary Walls of School Boundary walls constructed for girls or mixed schools Same Toilets for girls and boys Toilets were constructed for girls in girl and mixed schools Lack of classroomClassrooms were constructed for girls who were taught in the schoolyard, or under trees

19. FRF as a ‘Best Practice’ Salvaging originality (Novel) Remaining temporal (Flexible) Working for all (Inclusive) Reaching the less reached communities (Outreaching) Showing Results (Effective)

20. Results Increased Girls’ Enrollment in Grades 7-12 There were almost 59,000 (21,697 girls) more students in these grades in 2013 than in 2009. GESP in general and FRF in particular, was responsible for almost half of this improvement. Decreased Dropout Rates Between 2009 and 2013, the numbers of GESP boys and girls in the cohort declined by 8 percent and 1 percent respectively. Increased Graduation Rates In 2008, 273 girls graduated from 192 supported schools. In 2013, the final year of the program, 2,313 girls graduated from 216 schools.

21. Continued Increased Appearance and Success in Kankur Exams 1,219 students (853 girls) appeared in the Kankur exam who might never have tried for higher education Increased Female Teachers (return of alumni as teachers) 558 girls graduated have actually returned after training to teach in GESP schools, and 42 in other schools. Decreased early marriages for girls Equipped and resourced Schools and Classrooms Engaged Teachers and Students Softening of discriminating traditions specifically related to girls’ education

22. Reasons for Success Ownership: through directed change but from within Relevance: needs-based and meaningful support Multifaceted: comprehensive response to strategic needs or multiple layers of input Partnership: increased support and involvement from community and state Inclusion: did not exclude boys while focusing on girls education Loosely structured: spontaneous enough to speak to the needs but structured enough to track the needs, changes and be on task

23. Challenges Limited Grant/Fund Voluminous needs/priorities Dependency Security

24. Scalability MIAD Approach Replication pilots MOU with PEDs and DEDs Partnership with local actors Networking with International Partners Cost Extension of the initiative Coverage under other projects and initiatives