Education

May 12, 2018 Follow up Advocacy Meeting with Ministry of Education

On May 12, 2018, the National Advocacy Committee for Public Policy (NAC-PP) held an advocacy meeting with Ministry of Education in Kabul to follow up on the issues shared during the advocacy event held on February 20, 2018.

The initiative was taken by Afghanistan Public Policy Research Organization (APPRO), Secretariat of NAC-PP, and attended by the following NAC-PP members: New Message for Afghan Women organization (NMAWO), Afghan National Association for Adult Education (ANAFAE), Afghan Youth New Era Organization (AYNEO), Support for Vulnerable People Organization (SVPO), Mehr Advocacy and Human Rights Organization (MAHO), Nawed Naw Students Associations and War Child Canada.

Issues brought to the attention of the Ministry of Education are listed below. These issues had been raised on February 20, 2018 by NAC-PP and the Provincial Advocacy Committees (PACs), Provincial Councils, and Directorates of Education of Balkh, Daikundi, Herat, Nangarahar and Takhar provinces.

• Inadequate tashkeel
• Insufficient standard school buildings and inappropriate educational environment.
• Shortage and long delays in the distribution of text books.
• Difficulties in the provision high school certificate.

The Deputy Ministry of Education acknowledged the problems shared by civil society, stressing difficulties faced by the Government in the volatile Afghanistan context. He provided details on challenges and initiatives taken by the government to overcome them, and took into account additional recommendations provided by civil society representatives present at the meeting. The Deputy Minister notably confirmed the need for the incorporation of anti-corruption in the education curricula, requesting civil society assistance in this regard.

The full report of the event and its proceedings is available here.

Incorporating Anti-Corruption in the Education Curricula

On April 27, 2017, the National Advocacy Committee for Public Policy (NAC-PP), released findings of a case study on Education and Anti-Corruption,  examining possibilities for incorporating anti-corruption in education curricula in Afghanistan.

This study stems from research conducted by Afghanistan Public Policy Research Organization (APPRO), a member of NAC-PP and acting as the Secretariat, to inform advocacy activities of NAC-PP’s Anti-Corruption and Education subcommittees, both civil society driven initiatives with mandates to facilitate evidence-based constructive advocacy by civil society organizations to initiate an inclusive, ongoing dialogue between state and non-state actors.

The Anti-Corruption Sub-Committee of NAC-PP considers integrating corruption awareness into Afghanistan’s education system is one essential measure to contribute to the fights against the institutionalization of corruption.

Afghanistan continues to be ranked as one of the top ten corrupt countries in the world. There have been very few attempts to integrate anti-corruption in education curricula, particularly in early and mid-level education. Anti-corruption values and attitudes introduced at an early age are likely to pay dividends in the long run with the emergence of a new generation of anti-corruption citizens who stand against corrupt social behavior based on a new set of values and principals. This argument has been put forth by the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and taken up through the Anti-Corruption on Academic Imitative (ACAD).

Islamic values are seen by many as an obvious starting point for raising awareness against corruption. However, methods of delivering Islamic teaching were strongly and consistently described as unimaginative, ineffective, and done by unqualified instructors who fail to discuss the implications of Islamic provisions against corruption in practical, every day terms.

The teaching methods were described as uninspiring, unengaging, and delivered and received by the disinterested. Many of those engaged in this research felt that with well-trained and enthusiastic teachers communicating Islamic teachings that promote integrity and humanity a wave of resistance to the endemic corruption in Afghan society could be facilitated. Islamic values denounce injustice, corruption, ignorance, poverty, discrimination, nepotism, bribery, deception and misusing public property [bait-ul-mal].

These values need to be incorporated into the education system through changes in the curriculum and appointment of knowledgeable, qualified, and experienced instructors. The question is how a new breed of teachers is to be found, trained and deployed within the education system.

The research makes the following recommendations:

• Efforts should be made to motivate community leaders to enlist and engage joint bodies drawn from educationists, religious scholars, teachers, parents, young people, and students along with cooperation from the Media to combat corruption based on Islamic principles.
• As much as possible, lessons should be drawn from the experiences of citizens in other countries on how to combat corruption.
• Parents and parents’ associations need to put pressure on the school system, particularly at the primary and secondary levels, for practical instructions against corruption based on Islamic values. Initially, these initiatives may have to find their expression in extracurricular societies, associations, conferences and other activities.
• The evident loss of confidence and trust in the government indicates that effective moves must be organic, from within the community and initiated by ordinary citizens and their organizations, rather than merely high-level political statement making and law and policy making.
• Extracurricular activities such as anti-corruption school clubs and conferences organized from within the community should be used to arouse interest, create a common voice, and mobilize actions.
• Revision of curricula by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs will be essential in fighting corruption based on Islamic principles.

About NAC-PP

The National Advocacy Committee for Public Policy (NAC-PP) was established in March 2015 to serve as a policy advocacy and information-sharing platform for good governance. NAC-PP works closely with Provincial Advocacy Committees (PACs) and District Advocacy Committees (DACs) to coordinate advocacy and information sharing from district to national levels.

For more information on NAC-PP, please contact the NAC-PP Secretariat through Mr. Atiq Rahimi at atiq.rahimi@appro.org.af.

Advocacy Meeting With the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Finance

On February 20, 2018 an advocacy event was held  in Kabul with Ministries of Public Health, Education and Finance. The objective of the event was to share with national level institution specific issues  related to the health and education sectors identified by the Provincial Advocacies Committee (PACs) and National Advocacy Committee for Public Policy (NAC-PP) in Balkh, Takhar, Nangarhar, Herat and Daikundi provinces.

This coordination event was organized by Afghanistan Public Policy Organization (APPRO) as the Secretariat, of NAC-PP, Peace Training and Research Organization (PTRO) and Oxfam.

73  participants attended the event, including NAC-PP members, PAC members from Balkh, Takhar, Daikundi, Nangarhar, and Herat provinces; Provincial Councils members, provincial officials of the health and education directorates, the Director of Strategic Planning and Action of Ministry of Education, the head of the Press Department of the Ministry of Education, the head of the Provincial Budgeting Department of the Ministry of Finance, Parliament member from Takhar province, the Senior Advisor to the President in Conflict Resolution, and media.

The event was sequenced as follows:

1. Opening statement.
2. Progress report on Citizen-State project activities and their relevance.
3. Presentation of advocacy requests and recommendations for the health and education sectors.
4. Responses and positions of Ministries of Public health, Education and Finance regarding the advocacy issues presented by provincial advocacy committees (PACs)
5. Speech by the Senior Advisor to the President in Conflict Resolution regarding the presented advocacy issues.

The full report of the event and its proceedings is available here.