BRAC Afghanistan has found that a large number of small children cannot get any scope and facilities to attend formal schools because of far way from their residence or not being able to reach school due to topography. Moreover, a significant number of over aged girls are out of reach of the basic education systems because their parents are reluctant to send them alone to distantly located school.

BRAC Afghanistan has launched Education Programme in July 2002. Afterthen, education programme has taken number of initiatives aimed at the holistic improvement and significant progress of the country's education infrastructure, providing an opportunity for quality education in underserved areas of Afghanistan . Beside, the millennium strategy that has taken by the Afghan government, try to figure the country's education sector through providing education for all with the close cooperation and assistance of the international development agencies, international NGOs and national NGOs. Over the years, it has been expanded redirecting its school programme by establishing Basic Education for Older Children (BEOC) in place of Non Formal Primary Education (NFPE) schools with a view to take stand on behalf of the poorest and under privileged children those who are deprived of education.

Girls' Education Project

The Afghan Ministry of Education (MoE) and the international community realized that in spite of girls' education, it could not be possible to rebuild the education system and to meet the growing demand in education sector. The aim of the girls' education project has been to explore the way in which gender equality will be maintained through the provision of basic education. Besides, the existing facilities of educational space and resource in Afghanistan so far from adequate to serve the needs of all school age children. Therefore Afghanistan government has established a strategy that supplements government education services by parenting with service delivery organisations, such as BRAC Afghanistan, to deliver education in underserved areas of Afghanistan .

BRAC Afghanistan started the Girls' Education Project in Afghanistan through singing a contract between CIDA and BRAC Afghanistan on December 2006.The project fully supported by the CIDA and developed in line of the newly formulated community based school operation policy of the MoE. The purposes of the project are to narrow the gaps in access and quality of basic education, and life skills development in rural and underserved areas of Afghanistan, especially for girls and the children who are out of school and also enhance continuing education opportunity to girls through quality enhancement of public school.

The overall objectives of the project are to establish community based schools in underserved area of Afghanistan that will enhance the efforts of the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan . Besides, the project also increases the enrollment and completion of girls education, promote female teachers in primary education and to develop the capacity of teachers in government run formal schools through training and workshop.

The core components of the project are a). Community based school operation a.i) 4,000 CBFS and CBALS establishment a.ii)Class room construction a.iii). Capacity development of local NGOs , b). Adolescent reading center operation, c). Quality enhancement of public schools c.i). Research and new initiatives.

Schools in operation

Since January 2007 to December 2009, a total of 4,025 Community Based schools established with accommodated 101,705 (84%girls) in 79 districts of 20 Provinces i.e Kabul, Kapisa, Parwan, Samangan, Balkh, Jawzjan, Herat, Nangarhar, Lagman, Kandahar, Helmand, Khost, Paktiya, Ghazni, Kunar, Ghor, Nuristan, Daykundi, Wardak and Bamyan. Although, CBS establishment has created scope to access in education for the out of school children and create opportunity female as teachers in the community.

 

Adolescent Reading Centre (ARC)

Adolescent girls are often the most marginalized and vulnerable member of the society. Due to some unavoidable reasons such as long distance of formal school, parents' unwillingness to send adolescent girls in long distant formal school resulted from getting admission in the formal schools for their continuous education.BRAC Afghanistan education programme established Adolescent Reading Centers (ARC) to keeping adolescent girls adhered with the educational materials for retaining their knowledge after completing BRAC Afghanistan school courses.

The ARC reading materials such as story books, magazines, and newspapers are provided to them to continue their education informally along with to make them socialized.Moreover, through providing Lifeskill training so that they can abale to serve their family needs by earning some money. A total of 146 ARCs are established with accomodated 3,826 adolescent members.