NGOs prior to Brussels meeting Increased spending on education is needed
Both the Afghan government and the international community should spend more money on education. That’s is the overall message from 11 Afghan and international NGOs, coordinated by Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA).
The organizations are presenting a joint briefing paper prior to the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan, where they highlight the progress for education in Afghanistan but also the many difficulties that constitutes a threat to continued progress.
More money must be spent on basic education, in order to enroll the remaining 3,5 million school-aged children that today do not attend school. There are also some specific need to be addressed, like literacy programmes. Budget for literacy programmes decreased with 35% during 2015, a figure that the 11 organizations find very worrying, considering that illiteracy in Afghanistan is one of the highest worldwide.
SCA and the other organizations that stands behind the briefing paper consider that it is necessary to double the number of literacy students from 500 000 to 1 million in four years.
There is a strong need to increase the number of female teachers in rural areas. According to the 11 organizations one way of doing that can be to decrease the grade 12 requirement for female teachers.
Besides Swedish Committee for Afghanistan the organizations that endorse the joint briefing pare are: Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief and Development (ACBAR), Afghan National Association for Adult Education (ANAFAE), Afghan Women Education Center (AWEC), Afghan Health and Development Services (AHDS), International Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband (DVV), Islamic Relief Worldwide, Mercy Corps, Save the Children – Afghanistan, The Tashabos Educational Organization (TEO) and The Welfare Association for the Development of Afghanistan (WADAN)