Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Afghan Women

Peace through Education? A Boston-based filmmaker, Beth Murphy, describes her project to film a project about girls education in Afghanistan and remarks on the security situation in Kabul. Read "Ominous Signs en Route to a Unique School for Girls in Afghanistan", The Huffington Post, September 1, 2015.


Sunday, August 23, 2015

Development News

Four Reforms Necessary for Afghanistan's Economy. According to one observer Afghanistan's economy will be able to stand on its own feet if the Afghan government begins with four reforms. The author, Dr. Mohammad Hotak,is the president of the British-Afghan Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Read "From Aid to Trade", Foreign Policy, August 19, 2015.

Quality of Girl's Education in Afghanistan. Arne Strand examines the state of girls education in "Expanding and improving the quality of girls' education in Afghanistan"Brookings Institute, August 19, 2015.

Is IRD on the Upbound? The International Relief and Development (IRD) firm has had a tough year but that might be over. Once the darling of USAID in Afghanistan it fell under investigation and for a while was barred from USAID contracts. But now it appears the firm is back in business. Read "IRD's return from the brink", DEVEX, August 20, 2015.

Teacher & Education Crisis in Afg. Two writers have penned a paper about a teacher crisis and the quality of education in Afghanistan. Read "Too Few, Badly Paid, and Unmotivated", Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), August 22, 2015.

Is a "Special Representative" of the UN needed for Aid Workers? A recent news report by IRIN (Aug 18, 2015) informs us of a movement for the establishment of a United Nations Special Representative to advance the safety of humanitarian workers around the globe. Read "On World Humanitarian Day, a new idea to protect aid workers".

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Fighting Extremism Through Education

Sharif Fayez, an Afghan scholar, is the founder of the American University of Afghanistan and a former higher education minister. In a recently published article he states that ". . . Kabul needs to reform the education sector so it can meet contemporary challenges and help prevent violence and instability fomented by extremist ideologies". He reviews the role of education in Afghanistan and the influence of ideology and religion under the Communist regime, the Taliban, and the current political structure. He believes that public education has been used in the past as a political tool. He has some worries about the madrasah system which works as a socialization mechanism for religious groups and a recruiting ground for the Taliban. Of great concern are the unregistered and unmonitored madrasahs located in Afghanistan. Read his article in "Fighting Extremism Through Education in Afghanistan", Gandhara Blog - Radio Free Europe, January 9, 2015.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Strategic Education in 300 Words

The folks at the War Council Blog are contending that they can educate a person in strategy in one hour or 300 words. See "Zero to Clausewitz in 60 Minutes: Your Complete 300 Word Strategic Education", November 22, 2014. Also see the actual guide.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Army University (AU)

The Army is attempting to reform its educational system by introducing the Army University (AU). This new approach to education is ". . . an attempt by the Army leadership to build an education enterprise that brings all schools from basic training to the staff college under single management". Read more in "Achieving Strategic Excellence in Army University", War on the Rocks, November 24, 2014. Commentary by Robert H. Scales - a retired Army major general and former commander of the U.S. Army War College.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Girl's Education Backslides in Afghanistan

With the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan comes the diminished amounts of foreign aid. The cuts to funding are happening across the board but one sector - education is getting hit hard. Many of the women activists that championed the cause of Afghan women and girl's education are warning that the recent gains over the past decade are being eroded - primarily because of funding cuts. Perhaps if the Afghans had been a little less corrupt the nations that forked over the billions of dollars in aid would not be suffering from donor fatigue. (But that's just me thinking out loud). Read more in "The West Made Lots of Promises to Afghan Girls, Now It's Breaking Them", The Daily Beast, October 20, 2014.

Friday, October 17, 2014

International Humanitarian Aid Drying Up

As Afghanistan moves from center stage on the world scene the international community is sending less aid. Other areas of the world (Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Africa, etc.) are taking the attention in the news and demanding scarce resources. One example of the diminished aid is an Afghan girl's school in Kandahar. The Kandahar Institute of Modern Studies will be closing its doors. It's reliance on international aid kept it open but the aid has fallen off. Read more in "Afghan girl's school in Kandahar faces closure as international funds dry up", The Guardian, October 15, 2014.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Ghost Teachers of Ghor Province - Corruption in Afghan Education at Provincial and National Level

We all know that Afghan government officials are corrupt. But every once in a while a story comes along that just boggles the mind. Red "Afghanistan: The Ghost Teachers of Ghor", Ground Report, March 29, 2012.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Literacy Program on Radio Targeted for Afghan Women

A unique literacy program is being launched in Afghanistan that will offer reading lessons over the radio.  This, of course, is a novel approach; however, the people putting it together seem to have a good method of delivering the lessons.  Read more in "New radio program to help Afghans learn to read", Stars and Stripes, January 11, 2011.