UN helps to improve literacy

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) are helping the Afghan Education Ministry to raise literacy levels in this war-torn country. A UNICEF survey in 2003 showed that the male literacy rate was 49 percent while female literacy was only 19.6 percent. "The literacy rate is very low in Afghanistan and it is important to raise it if we want to develop the country." Prof Lutfullah Safi, education coordinator of UNESCO, told IRIN in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday. He said that UNESCO and the Ministry of Education had established a project on literacy and non-formal education development, known as Land Afghan, in January 2003. Many years of war and the displacement of thousands of Afghans have caused their children to remain illiterate. With the country moving towards reconstruction and rehabilitation, it needs more assistance in order to increase the number of educated people who can take an active role in rebuilding their homeland. "I was nine years old when the conflict started and then we all went to Pakistan where I was just working to bring bread for my family." Jamaludin, a 23-year-old new returnee told IRIN. "But still I like to study and I want to learn something in order to be known as an educated person in society." The UNESCO official said the main activities of Land Afghan included the development of a curriculum in both Dari and Pashto for basic literacy and a post-literacy teachers' guide; providing literacy-related capacity building training to government agencies and NGOs; and establishing community learning centres where literacy and non-formal education courses were offered. Land Afghan was also aiming to develop resources for visually impaired and deaf Afghans. Afghanistan now has more than four million children attending school. This is the largest ever number of students in school. Nationally, girls make up on average 30 percent of the student population. This is a massive increase, even when compared to the years before the Taliban restrictions on girls' education. However, a lack of accommodation and other educational resources remains a big problem. According to a UNICEF report this year, the organisation has funded the rebuilding of 154 schools. The construction work was done by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). In addition, UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has supported the production of learning and teaching materials to four million children and 80,000 teachers nationwide as well as distributing 10 million textbooks for grades 2-12. UNICEF aims to continue efforts to increase opportunities for girls' education in Afghanistan, while paying increased attention to the quality of education through support for teacher training, curriculum development and physical improvements to schools and other learning environments, the report added.