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About Education in Afghanistan

Introduction

Afghanistan has among the lowest literacy rates in the world and enormous challenges facing the education sector, which impact greatly on its broader development objectives. The Taliban regime denied women and girls the human right to education for over five years, in the vast majority of the country. This situation further exasperated an already dire situation, where little education infrastructure existed, there was a shortage of trained teachers and educated people after years of war,  and poverty was endemic. Today, many of these challenges still exist but there have been vast improvements. Most significantly, girls are back in school and the numbers have steadily risen. The international community is working with the Afghan Government to build more schools and bring reforms to the education system, slowly but surely. Yet despite the impressive metrics, the quality of education remains the biggest challenge. Schools lack proper facilities- from safe drinking water and lavatories to school libraries and science labs. Most pupils still learn without textbooks, and most are taught by teachers with no post-secondary education, in over-crowded classrooms with students coming in several shifts a day. Some areas lack girls’ schools entirely and insecurity has negatively impacted girls’ access to education in particular. Canada, and the Canadian public, need to stand behind a long term commitment to helping the Afghan education sector get back on its feet. This is the most powerful possible antidote to conflict, and the greatest investment we can make in Afghanistan’s stability, peacebuilding, development and poverty alleviation.

A Snapshot of Education in Afghanistan

Literacy

In urban areas, literacy is 48.2% (33.5% for females); while in rural areas literacy is 21% (and only 6.8% for women). The national literacy rate is 26.2% (female literacy is 12.5% and male literacy is 39.

In Afghanistan, literacy is strongly correlated to economic status. In the wealthiest households, 50% of women aged 15-24 years of age are literate, while in the poorest households, 5% of women are literate.

School Enrollment

Nationally, net primary school enrollment is estimated at 51.7% (42.1% for females and 60.4% for males)

In urban areas, primary school enrollment is 72.8% (67.8% for females), while in rural areas it’s 49.4% (38.2% females)

By Grade 12, school enrollment is only 11.7% (6% for females). In rural areas, only 2.3% of girls are still enrolled in school by their senior years.

There are significant regional differences in school enrollment. For instance, in Uruzgan province only 1.4% of girls are in primary school; while in Badakhshan, 73.4% of girls are enrolled in primary school.

There are numerous reasons why families choose not to send their children to school. These reasons vary significantly by rural/urban divide, by province, and by sex of the pupil. For instance, in rural areas, distance and access is the main reason cited, while in urban areas, cultural reasons are more often cited for not sending children to school, particularly for girls, and especially for girls in older age groups.

Teaching Force

Women make up only 28% of the teaching force, varying from over 60% in Kabul to only 1% in Uruzgan

In 10 provinces, the percentage of women teachers is 10% or less (2009)

According to UNAMA, the number of teachers has grown eightfold from 20,700 to 158,000 in 2008, to approximately 170,000 in 2010

The MoE’s own projections from 2007 are that at least 95,000 teachers must be recruited over the next five years (Kirk, 2009)

245 out of 412 urban and rural districts do not have a single qualified female teacher

90% of qualified female teachers are located in the nine major urban centers (Kabul, Herat, Nangrahar, Mazar, Badakhshan, Takhar, Baghlan, Jozjan and Faryab)

73% of teachers lack the minimum required qualification of grade 14 graduation (high school plus two years post-secondary)

Schools & Security

  • The education system, especially girls’ education, has been a primary target of the Taliban insurgency. The Taliban and proxies have burned down schools or attacked them with grenades, mines or rockets, murdered teachers, and attacked students. Threats to teachers, school administrative staff, and students are frequent, often through ‘night letters’.  Schools are also looted.
  • For instance, between 2006-2008, there were 1,153 reported attacks on the education sector, and likely more unreported attacks. 
  • In 2008, violent incidents at schools resulted in 58 deaths.
  • Hundreds of schools have closed due to security concerns; however, the Ministry of Education and communities work hard to re-open schools as security permits. Yet the Taliban’s war on education and the resulting insecurity serve as a major impediment to teaching and learning in the country.

 

On our main website, we have five fact sheets on education in Afghanistan. Please click here to access the fact sheets on The Teacher Shortfall, The Missing Textbooks, A War on Education: Security and Schools, School Enrollment in Afghanistan, and Building Schools: Meeting Education Infrastructure Needs in Afghanistan.

Afghan Organizations Working in Education

Policy Documents

Reports and Information on Education in Afghanistan

Other Online Tools for Teachers