Working Group members discuss district initiatives during a break out session on education development.
5 September 2007
By Major Lynne Smith
Bamyan Province in the Central Highlands of Afghanistan has over two hundred and sixty three schools - and the number is growing daily.
Schools may be based in designated school buildings, in mosques, or in rented houses. They are also held in tents, under trees, or in other shade. Schools only operate in summer as deep snow often prevents movement in the winter. They run two shifts per day, with primary students attending in the morning and secondary students attending in the afternoon. Bamyan people are hungry for education, both for themselves and for their children. Demand far outstrips supply and local government officials are desperate to make best use of the resources available to them.
Bamyan Province has a Director of Education and six District Directors. All are former teachers but none have experience of strategic planning or modern western management techniques. One thing they do have in common is a passion for education.
Bamyan Provincial Education Director Mohammad Raza took up his post in April 2007, a couple of weeks after the tenth rotation of Kiwis arrived in Bamyan. As Education Officer for the Provincial Reconstruction Team, I was pleased to meet with him to discuss the advantages of working together for the good of Provincial Education.
As time passed and we both familiarised ourselves with the Province and each other we identified that the Director should meet with his Leadership Team and develop a Provincial Education Plan. The Afghan National Education Strategy is a fairly robust document but unfortunately the Bamyan Directorate did not have the experience or the skill to produce a Provincial Education Plan.
Having identified a need, planning was conducted and a four day Strategic Working Group was approved for sponsorship by the PRT. The intent was to allow the Directors to meet together, learn about strategic planning and assist the Provincial Director in preparing a draft Provincial Education Plan. It was also important to us to model good conference management and delivery and as such Director Raza and his staff were mentored in preparation and delivery.
Led by the Provincial Director with participation from the Aga Khan Foundation’s “Programme for Professional Development” (a non government organisation active in Bamyan) and the use of their excellent training facility, an experiential interactive programme was delivered. Attendees included the District Directors, A Ministry of Education advisor from Kabul, and selected Senior Principles from Central Bamyan, who themselves could be expected to be future District or Provincial Directors.
Also in attendance were representatives from the Directorate of Women’s Affairs. Women’s Development issues are closely linked to education and the Director of Women’s Affairs was very interested in attending the training as her departmental staff were inexperienced in strategic planning techniques. The context of the learning was educational policy but it was valuable for Women’s Affairs to be able to speak with the educational policy makers.
One of the key issues for educators, for example, is trying to increase the number of female teachers in Afghanistan. A lack of women teachers is a major factor keeping many girls away from school in Afghanistan. Also acting as Gender Equity Advisor for the PRT and mentor to the Directorate of Women’s Affairs, it was very pleasing to have their participation as it achieved extra value from the investment in the activity.
Talking with participants I discovered several had interesting stories. Many had fled the Russian occupation or the Taliban regime to comfortable lives and jobs in Iran or Pakistan. They had chosen to return to Afghanistan in recent years, often taking pay cuts and leaving behind family to help rebuild their country. They are passionate about their Provinces and are good educators, happy to continue their life long learning.
At the completion of the Working Group meeting all objectives had been achieved and attendees were united in their appreciation of the experience. The Working Group was led by Director Raza and he was able to establish his authority with his new team. Building such capacity is an important part of reconstruction in Afghanistan as Provincial Reconstruction Teams will not be here forever - it is the local officials who must increasingly take responsibility for the development and outputs of their departments.
Ends