In this post, I’ll go over two takeaways from an Afghanistan background paper written for the 2022 GEM Regional Report on South Asia, which discuss the impact of non-state actors in the country’s educational system.
In Afghanistan, pre-primary education is available to roughly 6 million children aged 1 to 5. While about 1% of children attended both ECCE centres and pre-primary classes, only 30,000 (0.5%) children were enrolled in these programmes (nursery and prep). As if low enrollment wasn’t bad enough, there was also a huge gap between suburban and rural areas. Take the southeast region as an example; enrollment there was virtually nonexistent in 2016. This region consists of the provinces of Ghazni, Paktya, Paktika, and Khost. In contrast, in 2021, roughly 45% of all enrolled students were located in Kabul.
According to projections made by the Ministry of Education, by 2020, pre-primary school enrollment will have risen to a meagre 7.9%. To provide public pre-primary education, however, it only made a few attempts (such as creating a pre-primary education policy, a national curriculum, teacher training, and a first pilot pre-primary education programme).
It is widely held, however, that the vast majority of Afghan youngsters start their religious education at local mosques. Even after starting school, the vast majority of these kids still make it a point to attend their local mosque. By way of illustration, 84% of 6-11 year olds in a 2015 study reported receiving some or all of their education at a mosque; this study also found that participation in mosque-based education was associated with improved literacy levels. This is significant because the Imam of the local mosque often serves as a resource for teaching children to read religious texts.
In the realm of technical and vocational education and training, another non-formal system has existed for some time (TVET). Ostad-Shagerdi had about 800,000 apprentices learning skills in small businesses annually, a large number compared to the 65,000 students enrolled in traditional TVET institutions in 2020. These apprentices received both hands-on training in the form of workshops and classroom instruction as part of a pilot programme launched in 2019 and supported by the German Development Agency, GIZ. The potential of this informal system was recognised in 2019 when the National TVET Strategy was developed, which envisioned a public-private partnership in which the TVET Authority would identify businesses, list apprentices, and provide training in theoretical concepts along with a state-recognized certification of completion, while businesses would offer practical skills at the same time.
The 2022 regional report on South Asia explores the policy challenges in depth, and these two examples show how mosques and businesses have historically played a role as non-state actors supporting non-formal education in Afghanistan.
In a time of great need and severe financial and political constraints, Afghanistan’s education system is facing the question of how non-state actors can continue to contribute. Some have suggested that technology could be used to reach girls and women who are not allowed to enrol in traditional secondary or higher education institutions. The bans must be lifted, and education must be given the priority it deserves, if non-state actors at home and abroad are to succeed in their efforts.
A new Afghan government has been in power for a few months now, and sadly, the discrimination against women and girls in the country’s educational system, as well as other parts of society and the economy, has resumed. To deal with these emerging realities, non-state actors will have to be mobilised. Because of this, studying the role of non-state actors in education prior to August 2021 is important.
In this post, I’ll go over two takeaways from an Afghanistan background paper written for the 2022 GEM Regional Report on South Asia, which discuss the impact of non-state actors in the country’s educational system.
In Afghanistan, pre-primary education is available to roughly 6 million children aged 1 to 5. While about 1% of children attended both ECCE centres and pre-primary classes, only 30,000 (0.5%) children were enrolled in these programmes (nursery and prep). As if low enrollment wasn’t bad enough, there was also a huge gap between suburban and rural areas. Take the southeast region as an example; enrollment there was virtually nonexistent in 2016. This region consists of the provinces of Ghazni, Paktya, Paktika, and Khost. In contrast, in 2021, roughly 45% of all enrolled students were located in Kabul.
According to projections made by the Ministry of Education, by 2020, pre-primary school enrollment will have risen to a meagre 7.9%. To provide public pre-primary education, however, it only made a few attempts (such as creating a pre-primary education policy, a national curriculum, teacher training, and a first pilot pre-primary education programme).
It is widely held, however, that the vast majority of Afghan youngsters start their religious education at local mosques. Even after starting school, the vast majority of these kids still make it a point to attend their local mosque. By way of illustration, 84% of 6-11 year olds in a 2015 study reported receiving some or all of their education at a mosque; this study also found that participation in mosque-based education was associated with improved literacy levels. This is significant because the Imam of the local mosque often serves as a resource for teaching children to read religious texts.
In the realm of technical and vocational education and training, another non-formal system has existed for some time (TVET). Ostad-Shagerdi had about 800,000 apprentices learning skills in small businesses annually, a large number compared to the 65,000 students enrolled in traditional TVET institutions in 2020. These apprentices received both hands-on training in the form of workshops and classroom instruction as part of a pilot programme launched in 2019 and supported by the German Development Agency, GIZ.
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The potential of this informal system was recognised in 2019 when the National TVET Strategy was developed, which envisioned a public-private partnership in which the TVET Authority would identify businesses, list apprentices, and provide training in theoretical concepts along with a state-recognized certification of completion, while businesses would offer practical skills at the same time.
The 2022 regional report on South Asia explores the policy challenges in depth, and these two examples show how mosques and businesses have historically played a role as non-state actors supporting non-formal education in Afghanistan.
In a time of great need and severe financial and political constraints, Afghanistan’s education system is facing the question of how non-state actors can continue to contribute. Some have suggested that technology could be used to reach girls and women who are not allowed to enrol in traditional secondary or higher education institutions. The bans must be lifted, and education must be given the priority it deserves, if non-state actors at home and abroad are to succeed in their efforts.
