Meeting the demand for education
The demand for education in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban has continuously exceeded expectations and the capacity of supply. Consider:
- In 2002 more than 3 million students enrolled for school, about twice the number expected by the Government and donor agencies.
- More than 5 million students attend Grades 1-12 today, the largest figure in the history of Afghanistan.
- Female participation – approximately 1.75 million students are girls – has exceeded the pre-Taliban period.
- There is an acute shortage of teachers – many teachers do not receive their salaries on time and have little or no training but continue to come to schools and teach the best they can.

However, without a timely response and support, such enthusiasm may not last and a golden opportunity may be lost.

Improving the quality of education
Lessons from other post-conflict countries suggest an early focus on quality – along with access – is key to rebuilding the education sector. Available indicators suggest that education quality in Afghanistan is poor:
- Critical areas for improvement include literacy and numeric skills, as well as skills in problem solving, team building, critical thinking, and effective communications.

Narrowing gender and regional disparities
- Girls represent less than 15 percent of the total enrollment in many southern provinces.
- Limited supply of learning spaces and lack of female teachers are major factors constraining girls’ education.

Strengthening the role of communities
Many communities and schools have sustained education at the local level for decades in Afghanistan – it is imperative to strengthen their capacity to manage their own affairs so that all children enroll and complete schooling.
- Poor communications, transportation, and financial infrastructure hamper community- and school-based management in education.

Building the capacity and defining the role of the Ministry of Education
Good governance is crucial for the development of the education sector.

The World Bank has been actively supporting the reconstruction of the education sector in Afghanistan through technical assistance and grant funding at all levels of the education system.

Quality Improvement
The Education Quality Improvement Programprovides teacher training and grants directly to communities. Very good progress has led to the project being expanded to all 34 provinces of the country. It supports:
- School grants for quality enhancement which improve quality through teacher training, additional teacher support supervision, educational materials, readers’ toolkits, and workshops.
- School grants for infrastructure development to rehabilitate existing government schools and construct others based on priority criteria, such as girls’ schools.
- The teacher education program which develops national teaching standards, a unitary teacher education curriculum, an in-service training system, and a pre-service training system.

The Second Education Quality Improvement Program(recently approved) builds on the first project and brings together donor agencies around the Government’s program. The objective is to increase equitable access to quality basic education, especially for girls, through school grants, teacher training and strengthened institutional capacity with support from communities and private providers.

Strengthening Higher Education
The Strengthening Higher Education Programaims to progressively restore basic operational performance at six universities in Afghanistan – Kabul Polytechnic University, Kabul University, and four regional universities – through partnership programs and competitive block grants. Under this program, eleven partnerships with universities abroad (such as Kansas State University, USA, and Delhi University, India) in the fields of engineering, English as a second language, and natural sciences, have been formed for five of the six participating universities. The usage of block grants to procure books and rehabilitate libraries and laboratories is under way.

Skills Development
The Afghanistan Skills Development Project(recently approved) seeks to increase the number of immediately-employable graduates by building, in stages, a high quality TVET system that is equitable, market responsive, and cost-effective.

Sector Development
The completed Afghanistan Emergency Education Rehabilitation Projectselectively supported Afghanistan in its efforts to reconstruct and develop the education sector. The key outcomes were increases in enrollments and female staffing at all levels of the education system.