Afghan Education; Challenges and Solutions – Part (2) External Challenges

Reforms in Education Sector:

The transitional government of Afghanistan in 2002 inherited a malfunctioning and defective system of education, both in terms of human resources and capacity, and in terms of building and infrastructure, which had a limited capability to provide education services and its quality was seriously questioned. The following statistics provided by the Ministry of Education show some of the problems at that juncture from the perspective of the Ministry of Education:

• Less than one million boys were receiving education in 3400 public schools by 20700 teachers, and the education system of that time did not meet the needs of the people.
• There was no single, national and standard curriculum and standard textbooks available.
• Only four Teacher Training Institutes (Dar-ul Mua’limin) were active in four provinces having 400 students and 50 teachers, all of whom were male.
• There were 38 partially active professional and vocational schools, with 1500 students and 50 of the male teachers.
• On yearly basis, only 22000 male students were trained in literacy courses.
• Only 7900 students were enrolled in 15 higher education institutions.

Since 2002, the education sector has pursued fundamental reforms and has attained remarkable achievements. Some of the major developments and improvements of the Ministry upto the late 2009 are as follows:

• Seven-fold increase in student enrollment: A total of 7 million students attend school in 12000 public schools, including 37% of them are women.
• More than eight-fold increase in the number of teachers: “Meaning that today, the number of teachers in the education system is about 170000, 30% of whom are female.”
• The number of formal Islamic education schools has increased to 550, with 136000 students “Talaba” seeking Islamic sciences, whose 9% is comprised of female students.
• The administration of Islamic Education has been promoted from a Department to the level of Deputy Ministry of Islamic Education, and, for the first time in history, a branch of the Al Azhar University (Al Azhar Institute of Islamic Sciences) will be inaugurated in Kabul and might gradually expand to major cities of the country.
• A national curriculum has been prepared for all public and Islamic schools. The new textbooks for basic education (1-9) have been compiled, printed and distributed, and it is expected that the textbooks of the secondary period of general education will be completed by 2010 and those of Islamic education by 2014.
• The number of teacher training centers has increased from 4 to 42, with at least one center operating in each of the provinces with dormitory facilities both for male and female, with 42000 students (38% women).
• Furthermore, at the district level, 73 teacher training center have been established alongside the schools to improve the quality of school teachers at the in-service programs.
• Enrollment at the technical and vocational education has increased thirteen times, with 2000 students (16% female) teaching in 60 vocational and professional schools.
• More than 95000 students (27% female) graduated from Grade 12 in 2009.
• Since 2002, more than 250000 (62% female) have completed a six-month literacy course each year.
• For the purpose of strengthening public participation to improve the quality of education, 8500 school councils have been established and 4500 schools have been built with the active support and participation of local people.
• Of the schools that had been shut down in previous years due to security problems, 220 were reopened in 2009, with more than two hundred thousand students receiving education there.
• Reform and development of the department is in progress; issues related to governance, monitoring and evaluation are strengthened. The new ranks and payroll system, which has been a major driver of quality improvement and livelihoods, is being implemented rapidly, with up to 70000 teachers now benefiting from the system. Launching and adapting it results in necessary and appropriate increase in the salaries of all employees, including teachers.
• Around 63000 students are studying in more than 24 universities and higher education institutes. [1]

External Challenges

In the previous report, we discussed in detail the internal challenges that has made the education sector complicated. We will now briefly outline the external challenges of Afghan education in order to be able to focus on the third section regarding the strategies and solutions.

1) Insecurity: The biggest obstacle toward Afghan education is the ongoing war and security in the country. The Afghan Ministry of Education is an impartial body and should not be sacrificed by any armed or political group for the purpose of its political and military agenda, and, thus, prevent the education system in Afghanistan.

War, lack of security and insecurity have left about three and a half million eligible children with no access to education up to 2019. There are currently more than 1000 schools closed due to insecurity, and there is probability of rising the number. Insecurity has not only shut the schools down but also prevented new schools from being built.

2) Usage of schools as military shelters: Many remote and unsafe schools are used as a military bases between the Taliban and the government, as security forces have turned a school into a military base in Helmand province as well as in the Chah-e Anjir area of Nad Ali district. Helmand and Uruzgan are among the provinces that use a limited number of schools as military bases; across Afghanistan, 67 schools have now become strongholds, with 4 at the hands of the Taliban and others serving as bases of the security forces.

3) Schools without Buildings: According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Education, around 9 million students are being educated in more than 17000 schools. Some of these schools are either having a half-constructed building or no building at all. Of the 17000 schools, 9000 have buildings, 8000 are without any building.

4) Low Budget: The budget allocated for education in the country has not been used properly and as needed, and this has left Kabul schools themselves without any building or half-completed building; and, a large number of students receive education under tents or at rented houses.

In the intervening time, President Ghani had ordered the Ministry of Urban Development to build 100 schools using prefabricated plots and build another 6000 schools with a budget about 200 million USD. Besides that, Ministry of Education announced the construction of 2000 more schools with a balanced population in different areas.

5) Unprofessional teachers: Unprofessionalism of more than 40% of school teachers is a serious challenge facing the country’s education. Ministry of Education has not hired professional teachers in the last few years and with a shortage of teachers, unprofessional teachers and unqualified teachers in remote areas of the country. However, the Ministry of Education in response says that professional and experienced teachers are not willing to teach due to the insecurity in some areas and a poor livelihood system, so the ministry plans to send some professional teachers to various parts of the country with the intention of paying for their living expenses along with high salaries.

Nonetheless, it seems that recruiting 26000 professional teachers and sacking non-qualified teachers a 12^th graders in 34 provinces of Afghanistan is not an easy task.

6) Corruption: In 2002, the number of students reached 900000 male students and there were no female students, but after 2002 to 2013, the figure went up dramatically, to 11 million students, which ministry and the government found it to be a great achievement; however, after a report of the USAID, the number of students in Afghanistan dropped to 9.2 million, which is questionable.

Besides that, the 40880 ghost teachers, 1033 ghost schools, 1400 school construction projects without legal procurement procedures, over 20 million USD embezzlement in the textbook printing contracts, disappearance of 64 school-related materials containers (notebook, boxes, pen, foodstuffs, and etc.) and dozens of other things that the Ministry of Education has looted are highlights of corruption in the ministry. [2]

8) Weak Administration: Despite efforts to strengthen cadre capacity, the executive capability of the education sector at the capital and provincial level is yet to be adequate, mainly because of the lack of skilled personnel who are not willing to work in the ministry with a low salary. Shortage of “proper workplace” facilities and equipment, especially the information technology has further complicated the problem of lack of proper management at the Ministry of Education. [3]

11 Website of Education Ministry http://old.moe.gov.af/fa/page/2022, retrieved 24/12/1398

 13 Amiri, Sakinah, 1397, Investigative Report on Challenges of the Education System in Afghanistan; Shadow of War and Insecurity over the Years of Education Support, Newsletter, Accessed 24/12/1397, under Key Challenges Issue 1-4, http://khabarnama.net/blog/the-shadow-of-war-and-insecurity-over-the-years -of-education-support /

Retrieved from:http://old.moe.gov.af/en/page/20221 Ministry of Education website, accessed 25/12/1397,