Government of Japan pledges approximately $25 million to school construction in Afghanistan

KABUL, 12 January 2012.The Government of Japan continues its support to the Afghan children by providing the Ministry of Education with its grant of an additional approximately $25 million to participate in the efforts to establish new teaching and learning spaces in Afghanistan. This amount will provide access to primary education to 50,560 children in three disadvantaged provinces of Bamyan, Daikundi and Ghor through the creation of safe, secure and child friendly learning spaces by 2014.

Expressing thanks on behalf of the Government and people of Afghanistan, His Excellency, Dr. Farooq Wardak said, “We are grateful for the generosity of the Government, supported by the Japanese population, whose sustained commitment to Afghanistan makes it one of the largest donors to education development initiatives in the country.”

His Excellency Reiichiro Takahashi, the Ambassador for the Government of Japan noted that the Government of Japan has afforded high priority to increasing conducive learning spaces for all children in Afghanistan, stating “Providing child friendly spaces to Afghan children, where about 50 percent of classes do not have usable buildings, will improve the teaching and learning environment and thereby improve the education outcomes. The Government of Japan is pleased to have the opportunity to support the Ministry of Education in its important work in increasing the stock of classes, supporting teacher training and strengthening community mobilization to protect and maintain schools”. This grant represents the second largest support for schools construction after the 1000 classroom project for Kabul Schools supported by the Government of Japan and are due to be completed in 2012. The Grant will be disbursed through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Receiving the grant on behalf of the joint Ministry of Education/UNICEF Country Program, Peter Crowley, UNICEF Country Representative, emphasized the funds will be used, through increasing the learning spaces for children in the disadvantaged provinces. “In order to ensure the children of Afghanistan do not learn in open spaces or under trees due to lack of classrooms, it is imperative that UNICEF continues working with the Ministry of Education  to provide a new model of Cost Effective Schools, which will be managed and protected by parents .”

Because of the urgent need to bring all children to school and provide them with joyful learning spaces, the Ministry of Education has been working closely with UNICEF since the Back to School campaigns in 2001. These efforts have seen an increase in students from under one million in 2001 to about 8.4 million today. This has caused a strain on the available classrooms and learning facilities.

The substantive and sustained support from the Government of Japan has enabled the expansion of the stock of classrooms in Kabul city, and the Government applauds the move to extend this to the provinces, which will lead to a more equitable provision of services to all Afghan children, particularly in the remote communities. The Ministry of Education, with technical support from UNICEF, and financial support from the Government of Japan with countless other partners will continue in this noble cause.