Fifteen teachers of Afghanistan primary schools improved teaching skills, and Afghanistan schools received specially designed study guides on five subjects within the framework of the project “Professional Trainings for Teachers of Afghanistan” implemented by Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) under the financial support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In Afghanistan, where the war has been lasting for 30 years, the system of primary school education turned out to be absolutely destroyed. School lessons are conducted with the use of materials and methods which were developed many years ago and often do not meet contemporary requirements. Tajik Pedagogical University (TPU), EFCA partner in program implementation, made a research of the current situation with methods and school-books used for teaching in Afghan schools and started working on the project.

On the first stage four lecturers of TPU visited Mazari Sharif, the administrative center of Balkh province, and conducted a roundtable on improving the education system under the support of the Ministry of Secondary Education of Afghanistan. They also selected 15 teachers of Afghanistan secondary schools for attending the courses of improving the teaching skills and trainings of trainers in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

To enhance the effectiveness of the project and promote its results in Afghanistan, the administration of TPU initiated signing an agreement between the Ministries of Education of Tajikistan and Afghanistan about conducting courses for teachers from Afghanistan in TPU.

During three months the selected teachers were trained in TPU. Training sessions on methods of teaching were conducted by members of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Tajikistan, doctors and candidates of science, professors, associate professors and senior lectures of TPU.

 “For teachers from Afghanistan and the education system of Afghanistan as a whole this project is very important and helpful. In our schools classes are conducted with the use of old-fashioned methods, and students do not acquire the necessary knowledge. For me participating in these courses means that my students will better know mathematics, their native language and other subjects,” says Mukhammad Rakhimi, a participant of the program from Afghanistan.

Lecturers of TPU also designed five study guides for Afghan schools on the native language (dari), mathematics, psychology and manual training.To successfully introduce the project results in Afghanistan schools, participants and organizers of the program created an informal group for supporting program objectives. The group helps Afghan teachers who have attended courses in Dushanbe conduct training sessions for their colleagues in Afghanistan.

 “The knowledge we have acquires is a leap forward for us. And as we are going to pass this knowledge to our colleagues, this project will be a leap forward for the whole education system of Afghanistan. I can even say that this project will be a leap forward for all Afghanistan, as improving the quality of education is the only way to develop the country,” says Mumina Salouddin, a teacher from one of schools in Balkh province.