Press Release Ministry of Education Responds to UNESCO and UNICEF’s Latest Report on the State of Education in Afghanistan
The Ministry of Education rejects the interpretation that the joint UNESCO–UNICEF report means more than half of Afghanistan’s primary-school-age children receive no education of any kind. In the published press release, the 53% figure refers specifically to children outside formal general education. To present a complete picture of the education sector, private schools, Madrasas and other education programmes must also be examined alongside general education schools.
During the 1405 Afghan academic year, 18,090 public and private schools are operating across the country, with 7,627,066 students studying in them. In addition, 2,456,132 students are studying in 20,372 Madrasas. The Ministry of Education is working to extend education services to different parts of the country and encourage families to educate their children. Awareness campaigns and initiatives to encourage participation in education are also planned for this purpose.
Over the past five years, 428,414 people have benefited from 19,661 literacy courses. In addition, 5,118 accelerated learning classes and 11,881 community-based education classes have together served 425,937 people. During the same five-year period, 4,989,376 new students have been enrolled in the education system, 373 new public schools have been established and opened in remote and underserved areas, and some other schools have been upgraded.
As part of efforts to expand educational resources, more than 48.7 million textbooks have been distributed over the past five years. New buildings have been constructed for 1,368 schools and madrasas, while another 4,160 education buildings have been repaired and renovated.
The Ministry of Education acknowledges that barriers to education persist in some areas; such barriers are also found in other countries. The Ministry continues its efforts to address these problems and improve the quality of education. In the Ministry’s view, however, it is inappropriate to present a single statistical category as the complete picture of children’s education across the country.
We call on UNESCO and UNICEF to clearly explain how the 53% figure was calculated, how the relevant age group was defined, the source of the population estimate, the year to which the data relate, and how the various education programmes were counted. The Ministry of Education is ready to cooperate with the relevant organizations on a technical comparison of its data, so that future assessments present an accurate and complete picture of education in Afghanistan.
