Afghanistan Projects

Advancing Education in Afghanistan

The future of Afghanistan is tied to the education of the next generation of Afghans. Global Partners Afghanistan was pleased to help with the following education projects in 2010 in the northern and western regions of the country:

Shebirghan Computer Training Center, Jawzjan Province
In Shebirghan, GP has maintained a computer training center for five years now. This training center offers 30 hour courses, over a five week time period, in many areas. Classes are determined by demand and include instruction on the basics such as Windows, MS Office, MS Excel, and MS Powerpoint, to more advanced classes on Autocad, databases, and computer hardware. In 2010, 1,922 boys and 92 girls were trained in various computer subjects at this center.

Chaghcharan Computer and Education Project, Ghor Province
Global Partners’ Chaghcharan Education Project currently has 500 students attending English and Computer classes at three locations throughout the town of Chaghcharan. Three ladies and three men teach these English classes. This winter, GP has added a girls’ computer course. For the first time in Chaghcharan, girls will have an opportunity to acquire basic computer skills.

Pre-school in Mazar I Sharif, Balkh Province
In 2010, Global Partners started a pre-school for underprivileged children. GP saw that many children who start grade one are ill prepared, unable to identify letters and numbers and being unaccustomed to a school environment. GP adapted a pre-school curriculum, trained three teachers, and renovated a house to accommodate two classrooms, playground, and a kitchen. GP then chose 30 needy students who attended class 8:00-12:00pm five days a week and were given breakfast and lunch. During this past school year, GP was able to provide a seminar to several national pre-schools to help them improve their schools.

Educational Resource Project, Mazar I Sharif, Balkh Province
In the Educational Resources Project, GP distributed children’s story and reading books to students in 11 schools. During these distributions 33,600 children in grades 1-12 received their own book to take home (not all schools had each grade). GP also conducted workshops in these schools to give teachers (of Grades 1-4) ideas of how to use story books in teaching literacy. This knowledge would supplement their current subjects and teaching methods. At the end of the workshop, a variety of story books were given to each school, enabling teachers to use the new methods of teaching literacy in their classrooms.
GP also facilitated the development of three beginner reader books, written by a local teacher and principal, and illustrated by a talented local artist. These books utilize words with a high usage in the language, start simple and progress in difficulty and use repetition of words to enable students to become familiar with them. They were written on the premise of the need to have a good foundation on which to stand when learning to read, thus the inclusion of basic words and sentence structures. The use of these provides opportunities for the child to practice reading, whilst teaching new words but not frustrating the child. These books are intended for students at the beginning of their first year of school, to be used in conjunction with their other school books to give them a solid foundation for their future education.

Asre Now Center in Gibrael, Herat Province
The Asre Now center in Gibrael continues to run seven days a week teaching many levels of English classes and also computer and athletic classes, including men’s and women’s martial arts. In April, a new women’s center opened in conjunction with the school that is teaching English, computer, handicrafts/sewing, and leadership. The Afghan director has a great vision for the school and a heart for education and change in the community. His eldest son runs the center located closer to Herat city, so there are three operating centers. GP Afghanistan is pleased to partner with this institute, through funding and providing part-time Western English teachers.

Massoud Center, Herat City
The Massoud Center is an educational institute with 2 training centers in Herat City. They offer a program, developed by the young Afghan man who runs the schools, called Learning English Easier and Sooner. The focus is to supplement traditional curricula with additional vocabulary in specialized fields, e.g. agriculture, business, etc. to produce stronger candidates for jobs with NGO’s. Global Partners has provided part-time Western English teachers to help increase the capacity of this center.

Herat University, Herat City
In 2010 Global Partners completed a three year project to create a sustainable computer lab at Herat University, and we developed a course in English Literature and Writing, which was taught by an American professor to approximately 40 students. This professor spent significant time mentoring and assisting students one on one outside of the classroom, helping students with research methodology, scholarship applications, and editing a collection of poems that was published this summer.

Facts About Afghanistan

  • Area: 652,230 sq. km.
  • Borders: China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
  • Arable Land: 12.13%
  • Natural Hazards: Earthquakes, droughts, flooding
  • Population: 29,835,392 (July 2011 est.)
  • Urban Population: 23% of total population (2010)
  • Infant Mortality Rate: 149.2 deaths / 1,000 live births (#2 in world)
  • Life Expectancy at Birth: 45.02 years
  • Literacy (age 15+ can read and write): 28.1% (Male: 43.1%; Female: 12.6%)
  • GDP - per capita (PPP): $900 USD (2010 est.)

More About Afghanistan:

The population of Afghanistan is about thirty million. Pashtuns are the predominant ethnic group in Afghanistan, comprising forty-two percent of the population. Other ethnic groups include the Tajiks (twenty-seven percent), Hazaras (nine percent), Uzbeks (nine percent) and other minority groups such as the Aimak, Turkmen and Baluch. Dari is the official language of the government. However, many other languages are spoken in Afghanistan, including Pashtu, Hazaragi, Uzbek, and Turkmen. Religiously, Afghanistan is over ninety-nine percent Muslim, with an estimated eighty percent Sunni Muslims and an estimated nineteen percent Shiite Muslims.

Read a brief history of Afghanistan

Today, Global Partners works alongside the United Nations and many other international NGOs to provide essential development and support. Afghanistan's infrastructure, such as roads, electricity, and water sanitation, is in poor condition. Medical care is lacking, especially in rural areas. This results in a national life expectancy of only forty-five years, the second highest infant mortality rate in the world, and the highest rate of maternal mortality. Furthermore, the educational system is struggling to recover after decades of war; less than thirty percent of men are literate and only about thirteen percent of women. Cultivation of poppies also remains a significant concern, as Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium. Although there has been a great deal of reconstruction in the past ten years, much, much more is needed in order to alleviate poverty, provide adequate health care, create economic opportunities, and educate the next generation.