Village Basic Education Centres Project

Village Basic Education Centres (VBECs) in Afghanistan:

In 1989 UNESCO signed contracts with three different Afghan NGOs to promote the idea of Basic Education For All and to build Village Basic Education Centres in the south and east of Afghanistan. Two VBECs were built in Wardak province, one in Ghazni province and one in Farah province. T h e design for additional VBECs was prepared by UNESCO architects in the project office in Quetta, Pakistan, to be built in Afghanistan with extensive community participation. The temporary tent school in this regard is seen as the start of an educational process. UNESCO provides the community with an initial temporary educational space while the community contributes local labour for the construction of a well and the boundary wall and provides a teacher. After this commitment by the community, UNESCO will provide as a second step a "construction kit", consisting of doors, windows and roofing material to build a three-c l a s sroom school, workshops for skills training health centre, day care, teacher accommodation and latrine. The final layout of such a VBEC will be designed together with the community according to their needs. The UNESCO Basic Education Adviser, together with the assistance of Afghan NGOs, provides training in literacy techniques, adult learning and community mobilization and develops reading materials. Both the temporary tent school and the VBECs are provided with teacher and student kits.

UNESCO provided assistance to the following provinces: Farah in the west of the country, Kandahar, Ghazni, Logar Wardak and Paktika in the south and east and Kabul.

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VBEC Wardak:

NGO: Engineering Services for Afghanistan,
Shash Qala and Guli Khel Villages,
Both centres have been built with stone walls by local labour. Doors and windows were produced by ESAR and shipped to the construction site.

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VBEC Ghazni:

NGO: Khorasan's Assistance Group,
Anguri Village, Jaghori District,
A pre-war primary school, heavily damaged during the war, was completely refurbished and upgraded to a Village Basic Education Centre. Too many students are already enrolled in the new school. The VBEC shortly before completion.

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VBEC Farah:

NGO: Farah Reconstruction Foundation,
Alakini Village, Jowin District,
The boundary wall receives an additional layer.

At the same time three primary schools in Kabul were refurbished and, as soon as the situation allows access to all parts of Afghanistan, UNESCO will expand its educational assistance and the promotion of Basic Education For All.

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For further information contact:

UNESCO Project Office Quetta
P.O.Box 317
Quetta, PAKISTAN
Tel/Fax 92-81-73266