1.4 Educational Structure

Education is free in the Republic of Afghanistan for all citizens, from primary education up to the university level. Few village schools exist in Afghanistan. Most schools are located near the larger cities. There are primary schools throughout the country but secondary schools exist only in Kabul. UNESCO is supporting a school expansion programme. Technical, art, commercial and medical schools exist for higher education. Kabul University was founded in 1932 and the University of Nangarhan in Jalalabad was founded in 1963. A Polytechnic in Kabul was established in 1968. Details as to the number of schools, students and teachers are shown in Table 3.5. Men and women have equal access to education up to the level that they wish. Outstanding students, graduates of sixth, seventh and eighth grades from the provinces who are enrolled in technical and vocational schools are provided with free boarding and lodging during their study. Similarly, those 12th grade graduates of the provinces who are enrolled in the universities are offered free boarding and lodging privileges.

The national education system is eight years compulsory primary education (age 7-15), four years secondary education and higher education.

The various developmental programmes in the education sector are aimed at not only making the people literate but also at imparting to them such knowledge as would make them useful members of the society. The general objectives kept in view while framing the physical targets and programmes of the Seven Year Plan are as follows:

a) development of higher education and improvement of its quality in order to increase the competence of professional staff and to create the desired educational capacity;

b) ensuring a balanced growth in educational levels and its harmonization with economic development and the needs for skilled manpower;

c) diffusion of primary education and literacy throughout the country in order to ensure equal opportunities for all individuals and realization of the human objectives of education;

d) improving and raising the quality and standards of education through the provision of physical and administrative facilities;

e) creation of a sense of responsibility among individuals in the society so that they can perceive their role in the identification and resolution of socio-economic problems on the basis of national cultural values.