Announcement of Three Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollar Credit to Afghanistan for Education Project on November 23, 1964

• INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON 25, D. C. TELEFHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IDA Pree8 Release No. 64/23 Subject: $3.5 million credit November 23, 1964 to Afghanistan for education project The International Development Association (IDA), an affiliate of the World Ba.rJi:, today e~-tended a credit equivalent to $3. 5 million to the Kingdom of Ai'gha:c.- . istan to help finance the construction and equipment of seven vocational schools QT, tte secondary level. This is the first operation in Afghanistan by one of the Woi::-ld Bank group~ The new schools will increase Afghanistan's facilities for train- ing teachers and a"rt1icultural and industrial technicians, and so provide qualJfi~~ manpower essential to the country's economic and social development • • The seven schools to be built are an academy for training teacher educators and~ technical teacher-training school in Kabul, the capital; an agricultural, an electro-mechanical and a teacher-training school in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan; an agricultural a.nd an electro-mechanical school in Herat in western Ai'ghanistan. The project is part of the current five-year program of the Ministry of Edu~~- ti.on and will contribute significantly to the educational development plans of th~ Government. The new schools will make it possible to increase the output of agri- cul~ural technicians by about 100%, of skilled mechanical workers by about 50% ane 0.f primary school teache!'a by 3ocfo above the levels otherwise scheduled for 1967, when the Second Plan period ends. In the longer term, the academy and the techcical tP.acher-training school at Kabul will provide the staff required to double the pri- m~ry teacher and mechanical education training programs in the next 10 years. Of • e.r:rual importance will be improvement in the quality and effectiveness of the coun- tvy1 o educational program.  - 2 - 'Ihe schools are centered at Kabul, nerat and Kunduz to take advantage of the local concentrations of transport and other services. They will be grouped en a • common site in each of the towns so that facilities can be shared wherever possible. This will achieve substantial economies by reducing the requirements for assembly halls, dining rooms and kitchens, by centralizing medical, water, electrical and ether services. The locations of the schools are also well adapted to manpower and other needs of the three areas. For example, both Kunduz and Herat, where tb..e mechanical and agricultural schools will be located, are important agricultural centers, and besides having considerable potential for industrial development, al- ready urgently need technicians at various levels. Most of the schools will have t)oa~ding facilities for part of the enrollment since pupils are expected to come fr0m considerable distances. The equipment to be financed with IDA assistance includes furniture for school buildings and boarding facilities, teaching aids, laboratory equi;imr-mt, generat:,rs, t=ansport vehicles, and tractors, farm implements and livestock for the two agri- ci..:.ltural schools. Provision is ma.de for the services of an architectural firm tc • •1es:Lgn and supervise construction of the schools, of specialists in architecture and i~ educational equipment to advise the Ministry of Education during construction, for six foreign teachers to assist the agricultural schools for the first three y~ars of operation, and for the training overseas of 12 Afghan teachers of agricul- t,.ire. In additj_on, Unesco, UNICEF and the Federal Republic of Germany are providing staff and equipment for some of the schools. In the Middle Ages Afghanistan was an important educational center. After tb~ Hongol invasion, however, its position deteriorated seriously, and little was left rmt the religious teaching in the mosques. Not until early in this century did m0Jern education begin to develop. School enrollment increased from 1,350 in 1932 to 265,000 in 1962, at which time there were 1,500 primary schools, 114 secondary ~ ~chools and one university. The pace of growth was accelerated unde1· AffY18,llistan'~  I 1 ' • - 3 - First Five-Year Development Plan (ended September 1961) during which educational expenditures increased almost three-fold and school enrollment rose by 66%. Despite this progress, Afghanistan still lacks a strong educational system, especially in the lower grades. Only about a tenth of the children of primary school age attend school and only half of these complete the sixth grade. The number of secondary school pupils is not rising fast enough, despite the fact that the screening of entrants is not very strict. Entrance requirements for higher education are not sufficiently selective, with the result that academic standards are lowered. The portion of the cost of the project to be shared by IDA and the Government in estimated at the equivalent of $4.67 million. Contracts for major equipment and construction financed by the IDA credit of $3.5 million will be awarded on the basis of international competitive bidding. Additional contributions to be made by • Unesco, UNICEF and the Federal Republic of Germany will amount to about $2.5 milli8n. The IDA credit is for a term of 50 years. Repayment of principal will begin October 15, 1974 a~er a 10-year period of grace. Thereafter, 1% of the principal w:i.D. be repayable annually for 10 years and 3% will be repayable annually for the fino.l 30 years. The credit is free of interest, but a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum on the amount Withdrawn and outstanding will be made to meet IDA' s adtni:oi- stra.tive costs . •