Opening Classroom Doors in Afghanistan

Across rural villages in mountainous Afghanistan, children can be seen making their way to school alongside mothers and older sisters carrying books for their own accelerated learning courses. The daily sight of their walk along a dirt path may not be remarkable in other parts of the world, but this is a place traumatized by war, where families struggle to make ends meet and traditional conservative practices are prominent. Their footprints mark a major change in the path of education in Afghanistan.

For most children here, this is their first day of school, ever. Just five or six years ago, education was an opportunity reserved for brothers, husbands and fathers, and only if the family had the means to send them to a government school, possibly several miles away.

Since 2003, Catholic Relief Services has been working with local partners in rural Afghan communities to strengthen access to schools and quality education for boys, girls and young women who missed out on education during the Taliban's formal rule. Key to our success is the involvement of families who want an education for their children, but have not had the means to make it possible.

One CRS teacher told us, "If this project didn't exist, families would not have let their girls and women go to school. The public school is located too far away, meaning that many more girls and women would remain illiterate."

Background

Many Afghan communities lack formal schools, especially in remote areas. Even in communities where schools exist, there is a major teacher shortage and many of the current teachers are not qualified.