Washington, D.C., March 31, 2011 - Last week Afghanistan’s Interim Education Plan was endorsed by the Local Donor Group, making it the 44th partner country of the EFA FTI Partnership.
This is a major step forward for a country that has been immersed in war for decades and has seen its education sector lagging behind. The Taliban period (1996-2001) was a terrible blow to education and culture, and countless students, parents and school officials paid a terrible price.
Schools and monuments were destroyed, female teachers were attacked and banned from working, and hundreds of schools were closed. The education system was in chaos and both teachers and pupils lived in despair. This dire situation continued even after Taliban lost political power: in 2006 and 2007, 230 students and education personnel died as the result of their schools being attacked or from personal assault. In 2009 alone, 123 schools were targeted by insurgents and 51 received threats.
Afghanistan's Education Minister, Farooq Wardak announced in January 2011: “Discussions with the Taliban have led to an agreement that girls are entitled to go to school’, he told news source TES in an interview while visiting Britain.” That the Taliban leadership is no longer opposed (at least publicly) to female education and is prepared to withdraw its ban on girls' schools will make a huge difference in the way or working in the education system in the country.
After intensive discussions and planning sessions, the endorsement of the Interim Education Plan for 2011-2013 demonstrates a strong commitment to education from the Ministry of Education and local education partners. This Plan reflects the priorities of the Afghan Government in the education sector and includes 5 specific areas:
- General and Islamic Education (with a focus on increasing access to basic education, particularly for girls and in rural areas)
- Curriculum Development, Teacher Education, and Science and Technology Education
- Technical Education
- Literacy
- Education Governance and Administration
The Interim Education Plan’s specific goals is to increase enrollment in formal education by 1.8 million to 9 million with a focus on rural areas and to increase national literacy from 26 percent (12 percent female and 39 percent male) in 2009 to 40 percent (31 percent female and 48 percent male).
The EFA FTI will continue providing all its support to make education for all a reality for all girls and boys in Afghan schools.