Summary of the Evaluation
I. Outline of the Project
Project Title:

Country: Afghanistan
Sector:Strengthening of Teacher Education Program
Cooperation Scheme:

Basic Education

Technical Cooperation Project
Total cost (as of the time of evaluation):

Basic Education Team I, Group I 483.806 million Japanese yen
Division
Charge:in (BasicEducation),

Human Implementing organization in Afghanistan:

Development Department

Teacher

Education

Department(TED)

andCompilation and Translation Department (CTD),
Ministry of Education (MOE), Afghanistan(R/D) March 16, 2005

Organization in Japan: JICA

Cooperation

Two years and two months (June RelatedPeriod24, 2005 - August 31, 2007)

Cooperation:

IndividualExpert(Educational Cooperation Planning)

1-1 Background of the Project
Education is emphasized by the Afghan government as a priority issue for the reconstruction ofAfghanistan. It is also a priority area for Japan's cooperation. In Afghanistan, not a few teachers arepoorly qualified, and many of them are engaged in education without going through pre-service teacher
training. As the reconstruction effort progresses, the number of young children enrolled in school has
shown explosive growth, and the number of teachers with insufficient educational experience and skills
is drastically increasing. Therefore, rapid improvement in teaching quality is urgently needed to improve
the quality of education in Afghanistan. Under the circumstances, Afghanistan has introduced a newcurriculum for primary education and has been revising curriculums for Grade 1 to 6. In implementing
the new curriculum, the urgent issues were the creation and distribution of Teacher’s Guides (TGs), theimplementation of In-Service Teacher Training (INSET), and the construction of a system to constantly
improve teaching quality. Based on this background, the Afghan government requested Japan's
assistance on the creation of TGs based on the new curriculum and implementation of INSET, and it was
decided to implement the Strengthening of Teacher Education Program (STEP) from June 2005.
This project aims at improving teaching abilities by creating practical TGs and implementing short-term
INSET using the guides. The major activities are: 1) creating TGs (for Grade 1 to Grade 3: G1-3) and a
training manual for TGs, 2) conducting short-term INSET using the TGs, and 3) policy suggestion forimprovement of Pre-Service Teacher Training (PRESET) for primary education and improvement ofINSET. The counterpart (C/P) of this project is MOE (TED and CTD). So far, establishment of thesystem for development of TGs, and development of the TGs have been promoted. In addition,short-term INSETs have been implemented in the target areas (Kabul City, Kabul Province,
Mazar-e-Sharif City, Herat City, Kandahar City, and Jalalabad City).

1-2 Project Overview(1) Overall Goal
Skills and abilities of Afghan in-service teachers are upgraded(2) Project Purpose
To disseminate knowledge and skills to improve teaching and learning in classroom with by-subject,grade-specific Teacher’s Guides for grade 1-3 teachers in targeted areas(3) Outputs of the ProjectOutput 1
To develop INSET Training Package (Teacher’s Guides and trainers’ manual), which is in accordancewith new curriculum of grade 1-3
Output 2
To implement short-term INSET for teachers assigned to grade 1-3 in the targeted areas
Output 3
To make policy suggestion for the improvement of PRESET and long-term INSET(4) Inputs (As of the time of evaluation, including some fixed plans)
Japanese side
Short-term experts:

12 people 58 M/MEquipment provided:

3.86 million yen

Accepted trainees:

5 people

Operation cost:

192.614 million yen

Local cost:

Provision of project office

4 M/M

Afghan SideC/P staff:

30 people

II．Evaluation TeamLeader:Prof. Seiji Utsumi,
Education Evaluation:
Members

ofthe Ms. Tomoko Masuda

evaluation team
Cooperation Planning:
Ms. Yumi Tokuda
Evaluation Analysis:
Mr. Satoru Takahashi
Evaluation Period

May 25, 2007 - June 13, 2007

III. Overview of Evaluation Results
1. Current achievements of the Project(1) Outputs

Professor of Graduate School of HumanSciences, Osaka University
Senior Advisor, Institute for International
Cooperation, JICA
Program Officer, Basic Education Team I,Group I (Basic Education),
Human Development Dep., JICA

Consultant, Researcher, IMG Inc.
Evaluation type: Terminal evaluation

1) To develop INSET Training Package (Teacher’s Guide and trainers’ manual), which is in accordancewith the new curriculum of grade 1-3- G1-2 Teacher’s Guides (TGs) of Islamic Studies, Dari, Pashto, Math and Life Skills were developed
and printed already. The TGs for G3 are in trial use as of June 2007. DANIDA (Danish International
Development Assistance) has agreed to include the TGs for G2 and G3 in the textbooks it distributes. Allthe TGs are expected to be finalized in June 2007, apart from the TGs for the Islamic studies as thecontent of the textbook has not yet been finalized.
- Two types of training manuals have been completed.

The INSET manual for 11-day training (20 daysif implemented by half day) has been made and distributed already. The manual for the intensive 2-day
training is scheduled to be distributed at a later date.
2) To implement short-term INSET for teachers assigned to G1-3 in the targeted areas- At first, the target teachers for the project were all the G1-3 teachers in five provinces and one city
(estimated at 10,000 teachers). A later survey found the number to be 20,000, due to a rapid increase ofteachers. Therefore, the target was changed to all the G1-3 teachers in five cities (Kabul, Kandahar,Jalalabad, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif) and one province (Kabul), which totaled 10,000, and short-term
INSET was implemented. According to the questionnaire survey after the training, more than 90% of theparticipants replied that they were able to gain knowledge and skills through the INSET.
- With this INSET, Japanese experts trained 15 Afghan core trainers (CTs—authors of TGs), the CTs
trained 40 master trainers (MTs), the MTs trained 457 teacher educators (TEs), and the TEs trained 9,939
teachers (See the table below).
SiteCT
ResultKabul

15Plan15MTTE

Teachers

Total

Result Plan

Result Plan

Result Plan

ResultPlan

21

21

171

171

5,227

4,717

5,434

4,924

4441

41

1,295

1,685

1,340

1,730

3348

48

627

650

678

701

3333

33

452

452

488

488

5581811,098

1,055

1,184

1,141

4

483

83

1,240

1,240

1,327

1,327

40

40

457

457

9,939

9,799

10,451

10,311

CityKabul
Province
KandaharCity
Jalalabad
CityHeratCity
Mazar-eSharif
CityTotal

15153) To make policy suggestion for the improvement of PRESET and long-term INSET.
- The draft policy suggestions on PRESET and INSET, submitted to the MOE in March 2007, concernedthe following: 1) Aims and principles of teacher education, 2) Policy on teacher education, 3) PRESET
curriculum, 4) Teacher Training College (TTC), and 5) INSET. The suggestions are scheduled to besubmitted by the end of the Project, after additions and revisions are made on clear definitions of theterms used and on political priority from short-, medium-, and long-term viewpoints.
(2) Project Purpose
All in all, knowledge and skills to improve teaching and learning in classroom with TGs weredisseminated in the targeted areas.
<Degree of teacher satisfaction with TGs and their intention to use them>
Many teachers are satisfied with TGs and intend to use them, while others are already using them. Someteachers said that, after using TGs, they began to conduct lessons in which students read materials aloud,work in groups, or participate in role-plays, and as a result, become able to provide enjoyable andencouraging learner-centered lessons.
<The number of distributed TGs>
The number of TGs that has been distributed or will be distributed is as shown in the table below. One
set is for four subjects, and the final number of distribution will be 326,348.
Area
Grade

Target area (5 provinces

G2 (Planned)
G3 (Planned)
Sub-total of each

Whole country

and 1 city)
Dari

G1 (Done)29 provinces

PashtoDari

PashtoDari

Pashto13,7443,365

13,0007,000

26,744

10,365

3,414

1,673

14,5007,500

17,914

9,173

2,276

1,115

9,227

4,773

11,503

5,888

19,434

6,153

36,727

19,27356,161

25,426

language
Total

25,58756,00081,587(3) Overall Goal

There is some supportive evidence that skills and abilities of Afghan in-service teachers havebeen upgraded through gained pedagogical knowledge in the targeted and non-targeted areas.
<Impact of INSET>- Before and after INSET lectures in five cities and one province, different teachers teaching G1students
in the same schools were filmed. The lessons were evaluated with a lesson assessment tool (Rubric),
which had been developed beforehand, from the five viewpoints of: 1) Purpose of the lessons and theintroduction of the purpose, 2) Content of the lessons, 3) Structure of the lessons, 4) Activities and drills,and 5) Evaluation. As a result, the improvement shown in the table below was observed (on a scale of 1to 10).
Before/After lecture

Dari and Pashto

Islamic studies

Mathematics

Life skills

Before INSET (2005)

6.8 (5)3.5 (11)

4.4 (5)8.25 (4)After INSET (2006)

8.0 (6)

8.0 (3)8.5 (6)8.50 (6)Note: Figures show the simple average of scoring. Bracketed numbers show the number of lessons
evaluated.
<Impact of TG>- The lessons given by the teachers who had not been trained in INSET were filmed in Kabul City and at
Bamiyan. Then TGs and a brief explanation were given to them, and several days later, the lessons of thesame teachers were filmed again. As a result of assessment using the lesson assessment rubric with thefive viewpoints mentioned above, improvements shown in the table below were observed (on a scale of
1 to 10).
Before/After using TG

DariIslamic studies

Mathematics

Life skills

Before using TG

3.3 (4)5 (1)3.2 (5)

1.3 (3)After using TG

6.0 (4)7 (1)4.9 (5)5.0 (3)

Note: Figures show the simple average of scoring. Bracketed numbers show the number of lessons
evaluated.
2. Evaluation by Five Criteria(1) Relevance: Very high
The National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) for Afghanistan emphasizes teacher education andcurriculum development as its priority issues. Teachers themselves realized their own need for TGs,
which show them concrete teaching methods, and INSET, by which they can improve their teachingabilities. The Japanese government also pointed out support for teacher education as one of its priority
areas in the "Basic Education for Growth Initiative (BEGIN)," which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
announced in 2002. In addition, JICA also considers education to be one of the priority issues in its
implementation plan for each country, and recognizes that education contributes to the reconstruction
and development of a nation.
(2) Effectiveness: HighThe TGs for G1-2 have been developed already. The TG for G3 is scheduled to be developed by the endof the Project. INSET has been provided to 10,000 G1-3 teachers. (The total number of G1-3 teachers inthe target areas is 20,000.) The policy suggestion for PRESET and INSET needs some additions andrevisions, but will be completed by the end of the Project. In addition to the teachers, the authors of theTGs (mainly the staff of CTD of MOE) have enhanced their abilities and learned lesson assessment
methods with lesson assessment tools (rubrics).
(3) Efficiency: HighThe inputs and activities are all contributing to producing the outputs. Also, the communication between
the Afghanistan side and Japanese side has been smooth, and the Project activities have been carried out
without serious problems as originally planned.

On the other hand, due to security reasons, the Project

was forced to cancel or postpone meetings frequently.
(4) Impact: Very highSchool teachers said that the lessons became more enjoyable, interactive, activity-based andstudent-centered compare to before. As an analysis with a lesson assessment rubric, positive influenceswere observed before and after joining the short-term INSET. Likewise, positive changes were observedin lessons with and without TGs. An NGO utilized TGs for teacher training in its operational area, andother NGOs have shown interest in TGs. Donors such as the World Bank and USAID are also positive
for utilizing TGs for INSET 1 and INSET 2.
(5) Sustainability: Medium
In institutional, organizational, financial, social and cultural terms, the Project has laid the foundation forfurther development of TGs and teacher education. Still, additional internal efforts and closer
coordination with development partners are necessary to consolidate its foundation and extend theeffects and impacts broadly and deeply throughout the nation
3. Factors Contributing in the Production of Effect(1) Planning1) The focus was on the primary education (G1-3), in which the number of children enrolled in school
has been dramatically increasing, 2) to satisfy the needs of many inexperienced and unqualified teachers
in such schools, TGs for major 4 subjects have been developed and short-term training was given, in
which the teachers could easily participate, and 3) the cascade training model was used for planning theimplementation of training so that effective training was provided to a vast number of teachers (10,000teachers).
(2) Implementation Process
1) Academic expertise (university) and knowledge on management and administration (consultant) wereorganically combined, 2) TGs at a level and with content appropriate for the ability of current teachers
were developed without pursuing unnecessary theoretical or qualitative aspects, and 3) the local resource
was used to the utmost extent for the development of TGs and the implementation of short-term INSET.
4. Problems and Factors that Raised Problems(1) Planning
No factors that impeded the Project in particular could be found in the content of the planning.
(2) Implementation Process
1) Frequent changes in the personnel of MOE, 2) the newly established post of ‘senior adviser’ has great
authority on the decision making. As a result, the demarcation of responsibility —who is in charge ofwhat—became unclear, causing confusion in the Project, and 3) reexamination on the indicators for
PDM was not conducted in the project consultation study carried-out in the middle of the Project(August 2006).
5. Conclusion
Due to the efforts made by the Afghan and Japanese sides, there have been outstanding outputs andimpacts. Both sides were proactive and flexible enough to conduct a series of activities to achieve theProject Purpose and even Overall Goal that must have seemed to be a lofty goal before initiation of theProject. Yet, positive changes in lessons were observed in the assessment workshops. Above all, teachers
themselves feel that the lessons became more enjoyable, interactive, activity-based and student-centeredcompared to before. This is a sincere voice from them. As long as they value and utilize TGs, lessons areexpected to be improved. In parallel, the government officials are required to swiftly respond to theopinions from teachers. In this respect, MOE is expected to consolidate the foundation for further
development of TGs and teacher education so as to extend the effects and impacts of the Projectthroughout the nation in a sustainable manner.
IV. Recommendations and Lessons Learned
1. Recommendations<What to be done by the end of the Project by the project implementation team>(1) The Project provided 10,000 teachers with the training of TGs and other practical teaching skills. Inorder to increase training opportunities for the rest of the teachers, it is suggested that that the Project
hold a workshop to present TGs and Training Manuals targeting various development partners who aredealing with teacher education. It will be also appealing to other partners if the workshop introduces
the real teachers’ voice telling how effective TGs are for their teaching.
(2) The Project conducted several surveys to assess the impacts of TGs and training on the quality ofteaching. It is necessary that the Project review the methodology of impact assessment and document thesuggestions for future impact survey on teachers and children.
<What should be done after the project completion in the medium and long term>(3) Introduction of TGs needs to be included in the government's teacher training program, namely
INSET1 and INSET2. INSET programs are scheduled with the support of the World Bank and otherorganizations, and both Afghanistan and Japan need to encourage the inclusion of the TG introduction inthe programs.
(4) In order for teachers to use TGs at a school level, the work of Provincial Education Department(PED) and District Education Department (DED), which are in charge of local educational
administration, is indispensable. So far the Project has made arrangements with individual organizations.
From now on, however, CTD and TED need to take initiatives to have coordination with them.
(5) Writing Members of TGs have gained the basic skills and knowledge necessary to develop TGs. For
the upper grades of primary schools, however, the development of TGs and teaching content that suits
the level of children's development is necessary. For this purpose, external technical support is also
required in the future. In addition, improvement of teacher quality requires improvement of curriculumof pre-service teacher training.

Further technical support is needed for this as well.

2. Lessons Learned(1) The development of TGs was in accord with teachers' real needs, reflecting the actual teacher’squality (lack of knowledge on teaching methods and on new textbooks) and the environment
surrounding the teachers (lack of teaching materials and referential books). Along with the development

of textbooks, further development of TGs is necessary in the future.
(2) TGs do not state theory, but they describe practical methods that contribute to the improvement of
actual teaching. It is written in an easy-to-follow manner and is also easy for current teachers tounderstand. The appropriate level of TGs is considered to be the reason why they were well used.
(3) TGs have been developed mainly by Afghan personnel with the support of the Japanese experts. In
this way, new ideas introduced by the Japanese experts are suitably interpreted in TGs so that eveninexperienced teachers are able to understand and utilize them in the classes.
(4) Due to security reasons, it became difficult for Japanese experts to monitor training and classroom,
and Afghan monitors had to be appointed. In the future, it is necessary to consider, at the time offormulating a project, a monitoring method to coordinate with local resources, such as NGOs.
(5) During the emergency and reconstruction period, the policies and organization of the target country
are quite uncertain. When implementing a project, it is necessary to be flexible with a quick response to
the changes according to political and institutional environment. When a similar project is carried-out inthe future, on-site operations must be emphasized.
End