Through Canada’s Education signature project, Canada is building, expanding and repairing 50 schools in targeted districts in Kandahar province.

Afghanistan has some of the world’s lowest educational levels. It is estimated that half of all Afghan children, some seven million, do not go to school. Illiteracy is a major development challenge in Afghanistan, particularly in Kandahar province, where only 26 percent of men and five percent of women are literate. This low rate is a barrier to employment, other economic opportunities, resources and services. Research shows that educating women has the greatest developmental benefits for their immediate families and for society at large.

The education signature project builds on Canada’s already-significant contribution as lead donor to Afghanistan’s Education Quality Improvement Project, which invests in educational facilities and human resources and helps strengthen the capacity of Ministry of Education, schools and communities to manage teaching and learning activities. Specific activities include infrastructure rehabilitation/development, teacher training and establishing School Management Committees and Parent-Teacher Associations.

The Education signature project has achieved the following significant results to date:

• A total of 26 schools have been built, with another 27 schools currently under construction.
• Teacher training has been delivered to over 2,500 participants since 2008. Some participants may have benefitted from more than one of the training opportunities.
• In Kandahar Province, literacy training was provided to over 23,500 and more than 6,736 people have completed vocational training and skills development programs respectively.
• Prior to 2001, girls were not allowed to go to school, and only 700,000 students, all of them boys, were attending school. Today, more than 2.2 million girls, over a third of all students, are enrolled in school.