Afghanistan - Education and Training Project

CONFIDENTIAL Report No. TO-366 Copy No. This report is available only to those members of the staff to whose work it relates. Any further release must be authorized by the department head concerned. INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION APPRAISAL OF AN EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROJECT IN AFGHANISTAN April 29, 1963 Department of Technical Operations  CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Official basic rate - Ags. 45 = $1. 00 Ags. 1 = $0. 022 Ags. 1 million = $22, 200 Ags. 1 billion = $22. 2 million Total enrollment in all schools (1960) 240, 000 % of population attending school 3% % of GNP devoted to education (1960) 0. 8% % of Government budget devoted to education 12. 0% (1960)  j t | ) G h o 7 Khost $ Fa rsS/h,,/f Koghl a,, Lonhknr3Go rSc' gcu Schools Teacher TrainingASchSTls gg\\\\\\ Mechanical or Industrial Schools Main Roads International Boundaries APRIL 1963 IBRD-1154  APPRAISAL OF AN EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROJECT IN AFGHANISTAN TABLE OF CONTENTS GLOSSARY SUM1ARY AND CONCLUSIONS. . ,. .. . ........ . ..i INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 I. ECONOMIC PRIORITIES FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN AFGHANISTAN 1 The Economy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Education and training needs for the modernization of agriculture and expansion of agricultural exports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . 3 Education and training for industrialization . . . . 4 Education and training needs for the modernization of public administration . . . . . . . . . 5 Manpower needs for the expansion of education in Afghanistan . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 5 II. PLANNING AND THE ROLE CF' EDUCATION IN THE FIRST AND SECOIN FIVE-YEAR PIAN 7 Human resource planning in the MIinistry of Planning. 7 Planning within the Ministry of Education . . . . . 8 Education in the First and Second Plans . . . . . . 9 III. THE EDUCATION SYSTEi AND ITS EXPANSION 11 The shape of the educational structure . . . . . . 11 Teacher training and vocational education. . . . . . 15 Books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......17 Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Adult education. t.............. 19 Appraisal of the development plan of the Ministry of Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 IV. SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION. . ......... ..... 28 V. RECObIl'NDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . 31 *...Vie  TABLE OF COINTENTS (continued) VI. SELECTED TABLES Table 1: Detailed breakdown of RGA credit request to IDA. Table 2: Revised estimate of partial costs of schools selected for a possible IDA development credit. Table 3: Educational pyramid: 1961/62. Table 4: Educational pyramid: Second Plan. Table 5: Enrollment of pupils in all schools, 1950/1962. Table 6: Distribution of public schools by provinces,year 1962. 0-  GLOSSARY Rural or Village Schools : One-tcacher schools grade 1-3 the teacher is usually the villaL mulais or religious leader. Primary Schools : Grade 1-6, schools operated by the Ministry of Education, I-liddle Schools : Grade 7-9. Lycee : Grade 10-12. Teacher Training School : Grade 10-120 Usually referred. to as Darul-MNu'Allimin (D.M.A., the house of teachers); trains elementary school teachers. Mechanical Schools : Grade 7-9. Patterned on German schoois to train mechanics, electricians, rar- penters, etc. Center for Teacher Training StafL : A proposed center wh,re staff for the Teacher Training schools would be trained. Arts and Crafts Schools : Grades 10-12 for "Arts" section for training in calligraphy, painting and ceramics, Grades 7-9 for "Crafts" section for training in masonry, carpentry, tai-,or ing and other handicrafts. Administrative Classes Grades 10-12. For conmercial and secretarial training.  APP -JISAL OF AN EDuCA'TiO\T YVD T?U'.JLyTI,TG PROJECT IT AFGHVNISTAN SUI-ARY AND CO\TCLUSIO\,TS i. On IMarch 1, 1962, the Royal Government of Afghanistan (P.GA) requested a US-10.3 million IDA credit for vocational and higher educa- tion. (See Table i). An appraisal mission visited Afghanistan in September 1962, and examined the role of education and training in the economic developnment of the country. The mission concluded that the lack of trained manpower was a serious bottleneck to the economic develop- ment of Afghanistan. UIltSCO, the United States, and to a lesser degree, the West Gerran Government, the United Kingdom and France have assisted the RGA in the development of its educational and training programs. Nevertheless, significant gaps exist in the assistance being provided. ii. In 1960 the IRGA spent only 0.8% of its estimated GNP for edu- cation. The proportion of the government budget going to education amounted to 12%. Only 3% of the total population or 20' of school age population was enrolled in school. These last percentages are probably among the lowest in the world. iii. The Second Five-Year Plan, running from 1962 to 1967, envisages a considerable expansion of education. hiost of the financing for the development component of this expansion mav be provided by bilateral contributions. The RG'Y is also hopeful that IDA will contribu-te to the Plan as well as Tj>-SCC, the U.N. Special "und and UNIC-EF. This expansion would demand increased recurrent expenditures for education which the RGA will assure. At the end of the Plan, if the development program is irmplerented, the RGA would have to contribute for recurrent expendi- tures on education about 2% of GNP and 18.3% of total government revenues. This effort is considered of the right magnitude. iv. The priority gaps in the development of education and training in Afghanistan are: 1) Planning for Human R'esource Development. The Ministry of Planning is not adequately staffed to establish and co- ordinate policy and action for the development of the huran resources of the country. For example, the Mlinistry has yet to undertake adequate manpower surveys and establish manpower policies. The Inistry is not in a position to assess the alternative meins of meeting education and train- ing needs. Is a result of this general lack of f'acts, information and analysis, investments in education and training projects do not always really reflect the needs of the expanding and modernizing economy. 2) Books for Use in Schools. lhlost schools in Afghanistan operate with few books, This acute shortage of  - ii - books may be due principally to ineffective book printing and distribution procedures. For exarple, there is an urgent need to train operators for the modern printing press of the NIMinistry of Education. Without adequate numbers of books, investmilent in educational facilities is bound to be less productive and even wasteful. 3) Vocational and 'Training, Facilities to Meet the Practical Needs of the Econony. The developrent of agricultural schools and mechanical schools is recognized as an urgent necessity by the FBGA, and was included in the request sub- mitted to IDA in 1