CBE successful approach to reach out-of-school children

KABUL (Pajhwok): In partnership with UNICEF, the Ministry of Education has established an alternative approach to learning, namely Community Based Education (CBE) which has proved successful to reach out-of-school children, particularly girls, in Afghanistan.

Of the 3.7 million children currently out of school in Afghanistan, 1.5 million are in hard-to-reach areas and conflict zones where mainstream schools are not available or where children cannot access them.

In such cases, to ensure that every child realizes her or his right to education, the Ministry of Education established CBE — globally renowned as a model of good practice, UNICEF said in a statement on Tuesday.

There are 4,351 CBE classes already in session across the country – from areas that are mountainous and inaccessible, to areas that are impoverished.

CBE classes are not schools. They are typically classes established in community buildings or houses, sometimes mosques, and the average number of students per class is 25-30. The teachers for CBE classes are recruited using the Ministry of Education national testing criteria and are paid through a transparent banking process by UNICEF’s implementing partners.

In an effort to meet the educational needs of every child, especially girls, and in line with the principles of International Humanitarian Law, UNICEF sought and secured the agreement of the Taliban to access and expand CBE education to hard-to-reach areas and conflict zones in the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Faryab.

This will allow the provision of the CBE model of teaching and learning to around 4,000 classes that will cater for between 100,000 – 140,000 children.

To that end, a technical work plan that sets out practical steps to ensure access to hard-to-reach areas and conflict zones so that the national curriculum can be delivered was established.

“This work plan follows the Afghan Government’s national standard practices for education and will undergo rigorous monitoring and evaluation as per UNICEF’s processes in coordination with the Ministry of Education,” the UN agency said.

pr/ma

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