Transcript Afghanistan Education System my report final for classmates

Capitol University
Graduate School
COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS
EDAD 304
AFGHANISTAN EDUCATION SYSTEM
ARDIAN V. SACULINGAN
Reporter
DR. JANETH B. PARPA
Professor
Afghanistan Country Profile
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Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Capital: Kabul
Population
31.6 million
Area
652,864 sq km
(251,827 sq miles)
Major languages
Dari, Pashto
Major religion
Islam
Life expectancy
59 years (men),
62 years (women)
Currency
Afghani
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Ethnic tribes
The Afghan people consist of Pashtun (38%), Tajik (25%), Hazara (19%), Uzbek (6%), Turkmen, Nuristani and
Baluch ethnic groups.
Kabul and many of the cities of Afghanistan were centers of cultures, knowledge and education for hundreds
of years. The influence of Afghan art and culture stretched from the plains of Central Asia to the rivers of
Bengal. The minaret and archaeological remains at Jam, and the cultural landscape and the archaeological
remains of Bomana Valley are both on the UNESCO World Heritage list, while the Heart City, the city of Balkh
(ancient Bactria) and Band-E-Amir have been submitted on tentative list.
The modern state of Afghanistan has much shorter history, and in the less that hundred years of creation has
been ravaged by war and civil strife. Afghanistan is landlocked. It is bordering Pakistan to the east and to the
south Iran to the west, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the north, and China to the northwest. The
Terrain of Afghanistan is characterized by high mountains, deserts, forest and fertile valleys. It is prone to
natural disaster such as earthquakes, landslides, flooding, drought, locusts, heat waves and damaging frosts.
There has not been a population census for more than 20 years. However, the population today is estimated
at 32 million. The ethnic diversity of Afghanistan is great. The main ethnic groups are the Pashku, Tajik,
Hazara and Uzbek, but also Turkmen, Baloch, Nurustani, Kuchis, and many others. Afghanistan has two
official languages: Dari (Tajik or Persian) and Pashtu. However another 32 languages are spoken throughout
the country.
Pressing Situation
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world
ranks as the 13th least developed on the HDI.
Life expectancy is 49.1 years for both sexes.
has one of the highest fertility rates in the world (6 births /woman)
one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world (460 per 100.000)
highest infant mortality rate in the world (122 deaths per 1000 live births)
(NRVA) 2011‐2012, 36.5% of Afghans are not able to meet their basic needs, and are under the
national poverty line, which is defined at 1.25 Afs (USD 22) per person per month
Unemployment rate is low and stands at 8.2%,
Most employed people (77%) have insecure jobs with low salaries, especially women, who are less
likely to be employed and have lower salaries.
Nutrition
59% of Afghan children are stunted, which means that due to malnutrition occurring before the age of
two, they are suffering irreversible damage to their physical and cognitive development
o Deficiencies of iodine or iron have been shown to reduce children’s cognitive and motor skills
and even their IQ.
o worm infestation causes anemia and poor physical, intellectual and cognitive development,
resulting in a detrimental effect on students’ educational performance. Even short‐term
hunger can adversely affect a child’s ability to learn.
Population
The exact number of the Afghan population is unknown. The last comprehensive census in Afghanistan took
place in 1979. All later population data are estimates based on projections from this census.
Afghanistan Central Statistics Office (CSO) estimated that Afghanistan’s population was 25.5 million in
2012.
United Nations Population Division (UNPD), however, estimated the population to be 32 million in
2015.
Population growth according to UNPD is 3.1%,
if the population continues to grow at this rate, it will reach 42.6 million in 2020.
demographic composition
o 50 % under the age of 15,
o 36% of the population are at school age 12
o NRVA (2008) reports that 21% of Afghan children aged 6‐17 (about 1.9 million) are working.
 Of these, at least 13% (1.2 million) can be classified as child labourers, e.g. only
working. Child labour is a key reason for children being out of school.
 The number of grade 12 school graduates is going to double from 225,000 in 2014 to
451,000 in 2019.
AFGHANISTAN EDUCATION SYSTEM
National Goal for Education
With regard to education, the Government aims at having a well‐educated nation. Since 2002, the
Government has invested heavily in the education sector and has attained progress toward the ultimate goals
of educating all of Afghanistan’s children, reducing illiteracy, and creating a skilled labour force. (ANDS
2008:14).
The new Constitution has put special emphasis on Education. Education is underlined in
articles 17, 43, 44, 45, 46, and 47.
Article 43 of the Constitution states that:
“Education is the right of all citizens of Afghanistan, which shall be offered up to the B.A.
level in the state educational institutes free of charge by the state. To expand balanced
education as well as to provide mandatory intermediate education throughout
Afghanistan, the state shall design and implement effective programs and prepare the
ground for teaching mother tongues in areas where they are spoken.”
The Ministry of Education
The Vision for the Ministry
“The vision of the Ministry of Education is to facilitate the development of
vibrant human capacity by providing equal access to quality education for all
and enable our people to participate and contribute productively to the
development, economic growth and stability of our country.”
Education Structure
The current education system includes five levels that are organized in the following patterns with
their own cycles and their own textbooks and teachers guides. It is an accepted principle that, if
they fulfill requirements, students can shift from one type of education to the other, if more
choices are offered at the end of each cycle.
General Education
The Overall Goal of General Education is to ensure that all school aged children have equal
access to quality education, regardless of their gender, abilities, disabilities, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and religious affiliation. Through general education children develop the
knowledge, skills, values and attitudes required to create for a better future for themselves,
their families, communities, and for Afghanistan.
The structure of the Afghan education system consists of three levels of general education from grades 1‐
12, a parallel system of Islamic education, technical and vocational education as well as teacher training
from higher secondary level and Higher education above grade 13.
The main education cycles in Afghanistan are as follows;
1. Pre-school education: Nursery-school and Kindergarten
Nursery (3 months to 3 years)
Kindergarten (4 years to 6 years)
2. Primary Education: 6 years Grade 1‐6 age 7‐13
The government provides free academic education at state schools. From age 7 to age 13 pupils
attend primary schools where they learn the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic and their national
culture. Religious education is the responsibility of clerics at mosques, but it is being regulated by the
Department of Islamic education under MOE.
First cycle of primary education (grade 1 to 3, ages 6/7 to 8/9)
Second cycle of primary education (grade 4 to 6, ages 9/10 to 11/12)
3. Intermediate Level
Lower Secondary Education: 3 years Grade 7‐9 age 12/13‐15/16 (compulsory)
Three years of middle school follow where academic‐style education continues. Students must
pass an examination at the end of this phase if they wish to study further.
4. Upper Secondary Education: 3 years, grade 10‐12 age 15/16 to 18/19
At secondary school students have a choice between continuing with an academic path for 3 years
that could perhaps lead on to university, or study subjects such as applied agriculture, aeronautics,
arts, commerce and teacher training instead. Both programs culminate in a Baccalaureate
examination.
5. Post Secondary schools 2 years, grades 13 -14, age 19/20 to 20/21
Graduate students of post-secondary schools can obtain a post-Baccalaureate Diploma in their respective
Majors, i.e. Islamic studies, Teacher training, Vocational education and Vocational/Technical education.
i.
Vocational Education: from short‐term courses to formal training grades
10‐12 and 13‐14
Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) programmes are delivered in formal education led by MOE and
non‐formal courses and programmes led by MOLSAMD and NGOS.
The Overall Goal of Technical and Vocational Education is to provide quality technical and
vocational educational opportunities for all Afghan youth, both male and female. It is important
that the education is relevant in order to equip young Afghans with marketable skills that meet
the needs of the labour market in Afghanistan as well as in other countries.
ii.
Tertiary Education: grade 13 and onwards
Teacher Education (grade 13‐14) is offered at Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) under the Teacher
Education Department of MOE. Higher education is led by MOHE and is provided by a large number of
public and private universities. The general structure consists of Bachelor Degrees (4 years), Masters’
Degrees (3 years) and doctorate/PhD degrees (3 years). The Islamic Dar‐ul‐Ulom system offers education at
the level of grade 13‐14.
iii.
Non‐formal Education:
In addition to the above‐mentioned formal education structure non‐formal TVET (short courses) are run by
Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and the Disabled (MoLSAMD) and NGOs.Furthermore, non‐
formal literacy courses, non‐formal adult education courses, etc. are run by MOE Department for Literacy
and other ministries, e.g. Ministry of the Interior offer literacy courses for the police and Ministry of
Defence offer courses for the Afghan National Army (ANA).
Islamic Education
The Overall Goal of Islamic Education is to develop a modern and broad-based Islamic
education system for all Afghan of Muslim faith.
During the last three decades of war and political turmoil, the Islamic education system, its madrasas
as well as prayer and Quran classes in community mosques have played a vital role in the education of
Afghan children. There has been the occasionally misuse of madrasas for political purposes.
However, in spite of some of these educational and social short-comings, madrasa education has
retained a unique influence and control over the educational, political and social environment in
Afghanistan.
Islamic Education covers 14 years of schooling divided into 2 cycles:
Madrasas (grade 1 through 12)
Dar-ul-Huffaz (grade 1 through 12)
Dar-ul-Ulums (grade 13 through 14)
Issues and Challenges
Based on the existing evaluations of education in Afghanistan, and on the daily experience in struggling with
education problems in both rural and urban areas, the following challenges are considered relevant for the
improving quality, equity and accountability in school system:
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High Level of illiteracy – 95% for women and 90% for men
Lack of facilities
Lack of appropriate curriculum provisions
Lack of appropriate learning and teaching materials/resources
Lack of appropriate teacher training
Low Salaries
Lack of professionals in education and academic experts
Poor access to information and communication technologies
Lack of an appropriate system for vocational education
Need for reconnecting people to the outside world.
Out of school children:
Dropout:
Educational Statistics:
Shortage of Qualified Female teachers, particularly in rural areas:
Low Quality of Education:
Inappropriate Educational Environment:
Low Internal Efficiency:
Challenges in Technical Vocational Education
Initiative to Improve Afghanistan Education
Following are some of the initiatives conducted by Afghanistan government to improve their country’s
education system;
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4.
Promoting inclusive education through as stipulated in their constitution of 1382 (2004)
Enactment of Education Las of 1387 (2008)
Enhance Private Sector involvement in educational reforms
Increasing number of Female Teachers through intensified Pre-service Training and education,
recruitment, Deployment, Working Conditions and In-Service Professional Development;
5. Development of education initiatives using radio and television as well as other multi-media tools
to reached far distance rural communities,
6. Early Childhood Intervention as a means to support children’s development, transition to primary
education and Learning
7. Strengthening the efforts to Improve Learning Achievements and Reduce Inequalities;
a. Development of a new curriculum and new textbooks for secondary
b. Development of Innovative and Learning Material
c. Establishments of Laboratories in Schools
d. Establish a National Institute of Curriculum Development
e. Provide other pedagogical materials and equipment for schools
f. Development and national annual testing system for assessment of learning achievement
for primary and secondary students
g. Strengthen institutional and staff capacities in curriculum development.
References
Education for all 2015 National Review Report: Afghanistan.
United Nations Statistics Division
Ministry of Education (2008). Draft Policy on Early Childhood Education. P. 7
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/environment/envpdf/Country%20Snapshots_apr2007/Afghanistan.pdf
Afghan Government. 2002. Bonn Agreement.
http://www.afghanistanembassy.no/Doc/About%20Afghanistan-Bonn%20Agreement.pdf
Afghan Government. 2002. Bonn Agreement.
http://www.afghanistanembassy.no/Doc/About%20Afghanistan-Bonn%20Agreement.pdf
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. 2008. National Development Strategy.
http://www.ands.gov.af/ands/final_ands/src/final/Afghanistan%20National%20Development%20Str
ategy_eng.pdf
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/afghanistan_31224.html
National Education Strategic Plan for Afghanistan (1385-89)
ARDIAN V. SACULINGAN
Ph.D. Educ’l Mgt –II
Reporter