Improving the quality of education in Afghanistan

Our “Afghanistan Quality Learning” project aims at improving the quality of schooling in Afghanistan. It supports the supervision of schools, promotes further training for teachers and improves learning environments for children in rural schools.

The project aims at improving the quality and relevance of education in rural areas in Afghanistan. The project strengthens the education standards authorities both on a national and on a decentralised level, promotes continued teacher training and supports communities in improving local learning environments. It is carried out in close cooperation with the Afghan Ministry of Education as well as with local education authorities and school management committees.

The ten-year project is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and has been implemented in Afghanistan by a consortium consisting of the Aga Khan Foundation, CARE and Save the Children since 2019.

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1100 schools in 39 districts benefit from this project.

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More than 20'000 teachers are being supported by our project.

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845,000 students have access to improved learning environments.

An educational system facing great challenges

Although access to education has greatly improved over the last decade, school enrolment rates remain low in Afghanistan. The quality of education is increasingly being identified as a problem, and particularly in rural areas, there is a lack of trained teachers and appropriate learning environments.

Since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001, the number of children going to school in Afghanistan has increased nearly tenfold. 39% of pupils are now girls, and the government and the international community have invested heavily in improving school infrastructure. Afghanistan remains a fragile context, however, and there are still an estimated 3.7 million children with no access to schooling.

The quality of education is also increasingly being identified as a problem. Numerous teachers stand in front of their classes without any training, and pupils leave primary school with little or no literary or numeracy, and are certainly not appropriately prepared for the challenges that life will throw at them. The learning environments at rural schools are deficient and are neither safe nor inclusive enough, especially for girls and children with disabilities.

59.2 %

of Afghan girls of primary school age still do not go to school.

95 %

of children with disabilities in Afghanistan do not go to school, because the learning environment is not inclusive enough, particularly at rural schools.

Strengthening the education system on national and local levels

Our project follows a systemic approach to improving the quality of education. We therefore collaborate with the Afghan Ministry of Education and its authorities on a national and a decentralised level on one hand and with rural schools and their social environments on the other.

On a political level, the project strengthens the Afghan Ministry of Education and its authorities on a national and a decentralised level, placing them in a better position to support teachers and school managers in providing high-quality education. The project develops improved working instruments for school supervision and contributes to more targeted training of school inspectors and teachers.

On a local level, the project mobilises rural communities to enable them to improve the learning environments at their schools, enhance transparency and dismantle barriers to accessing high-quality, equal, safe and inclusive education.

We have to foster in Afghanistan’s children a mind-set that acknowledges the future of the country belongs to them. The education system has to provide the country’s children and youth with the knowledge and skills to turn this mind-set into reality

Excerpt from the Afghan government’s national education strategy

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