CARE Trains Women Teachers in Afghanistan

CARE
Friday, 24 May 2002

"Training of trainers" is vital for education to spread and rebuilding to go forward

CARE is training nearly 2,000 female teachers in Kabul in close collaboration with Afghanistan's Ministry of Education. The program targets teachers' trainers, who in turn are responsible for providing basic training to other teachers in Kabul, spreading education and contributing to the rebuilding of the war-ravaged country.

CARE is currently conducting its second teacher training workshop in Kabul, with more than 600 women attending. Each two-week workshop for trainers covers various educational tools such as the development of teaching aid materials and student-oriented class methods.

"The teacher training program is a big step toward the rebuilding of Afghanistan," said Paul Barker, country director for CARE in Afghanistan. "Many changes have occurred with the new administration. The biggest is the liberation of professional Afghan women, who now have the freedom to work outside the home. But there are still big challenges before us – from the security of the country to its physical reconstruction. It is vital that women actively participate in the rebuilding process."

The Taliban restrictions on women's employment and girls' education resulted in the loss of many skilled female teachers. Now, an estimated 4,000 women have returned to teaching and are holding classes in reopened schools in Kabul.

"CARE began the female teacher training program to ensure that the teachers are equipped with adequate knowledge and skills to provide quality education," said Waleed Hakim, deputy manager of CARE's education program. "The Ministry of Education will be able to use these trainers as a resource pool for their future training programs."

Zabihullah Esmati, deputy of teacher training in Afghanistan's Ministry of Education, believes the role of teachers is critical to change in Afghanistan: "We and our children have always heard of and talked about the war in the past 23 years," said Esmati. "Now with the collapse of the Taliban regime and the beginning of a new administration, it is the responsibility of the qualified teachers to introduce a peace culture in the society."

About CARE: CARE, one of the world's leading international humanitarian organizations, helps people and communities achieve lasting solutions to poverty. In Afghanistan, CARE is operational in seven provinces in the Southeast and works through local partners in five other provinces in the country. CARE began a pilot education program in Khost in 1994 with only 1,200 students. That program has expanded to seven provinces with 23,000 boys and girls.

For more information, or to contact CARE, see their website at: www.care.org