Access to quality education for shock-affected boys and girls in HIrat Province In 2021, the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has left nearly half the population in need of assistance, with women and children being overwhelmingly affected. Education in particular has been affected by the recent upheavals, which have included the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that closed schools for months in both 2020 and 2021. Nearly 8 million children are out of school, including 60% girls (UNICEF, 2021). Displaced children and cross border returnees in particular are less likely to be in school as they often have gaps in their education, lack the appropriate civil documentation to register for school as well as live in less economically stable households or in households separated from their parents. Girls in particular face barriers to accessing education. There are cultural and community attitudes around girls’ education and pressures that keep them out of school. Formal hub schools often lack female teachers or gender sensitive facilities, which discourages girls from continued attendance.

In response to these needs, CRS is proposing to provide access to quality education to shock affected children in Hirat and will target approximately 5800 girls and boys between ages of 7 and 13 in Karokh, Hirat City, Injil and Adraskan districts, which will contribute to SO3 of the HRP: Vulnerable people are supported to build their resilience.  CRS will use the Community Based Education (CBE) approach and will establish CBE TLS, which will support children to complete one full grade over 12 months. CRS will assess and analyze gender roles, relations, and the differing needs and interests of boys, girls, men, and women, to identify barriers to access and to develop context-appropriate strategies in each community for overcoming challenges regarding education access and ensure that at least 60% of students enrolled are girls. CRS will establish and build the capacity of school shuras to support and the monitor the classes. Shura are key to the increased access to education for girls and CRS will work with the shura to raise awareness about the contribution of communities, importance of girls’ education and, education continuity beyond the project duration. 

The CBE TLS will be equipped with all learning materials and will also be provided winterization, considering that the classes will run through 12 months and Hirat is a cold climate region. In addition to supporting students to access education through CBE TLS, CRS will conduct assessments with clustered hub schools and support approximately 50 schools with light repairs that would increase the school’s capacity to accept students and parents’ willingness to send their children to school. 

To contribute to the objective of providing students with a quality education, CRS will train teachers on a range of topics, including student-centered learning, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and psychosocial support, ensuring increased teacher capacity to deliver quality, inclusive, and gender-sensitive primary education responsive to the psychosocial needs of girls and boys in Afghanistan.

CRS will coordinate with relevant education stakeholders throughout the implementation of this project, including the Provincial Education Department and District Education Department. CRS will also coordinate with other implementing partners to share lessons learned and avoid duplication. This includes World Vision International as WVI is also proposing to implement in Herat Province and Injil District. CRS and WVI education colleagues have coordinated and agreed that CRS will establish classes in Shaidayee, while WVI will cover Kahdestan. CRS and WVI will maintain regular coordination to avoid duplication and will crosscheck class locations to avoid duplication.