IBE-UNESCO, jointly with Afghanistan's Ministry of Education (MoE) and UNESCO Kabul Office, has taken an important step forward in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 agenda within the country.
The IBE’s team of experts, along with UNESCO Kabul office, met with the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Ibrahim Shinwari and his team from the Ministry of Education in Kabul on 24-25 April 2018. Including over 40 participants, the meeting focused on fostering an open and engaging political/technical dialogue aimed at understanding and strengthening Afghanistan's education system and its curriculum reform and development process. The past and present challenges, as well as their aspiration for the transformation of education in the country, were shared. The IBE experts also shared the diversity of strategies and practices with regard to mainstreaming curriculum and learning issues in the reform processes.
Education situation
Curriculum development has faced many difficulties related to the lack of school buildings, teacher training, and students’ low performance in mathematics, reading, and writing. Facing the reality, the government and education leaders are taking step forward, as they want to see the national education system transformed to effectively address the development needs and challenges of Afghan society at large.
Curriculum reform is a major key for Afghanistan to join the global education hub of best practices.
The impact of the fourth industrial revolution is too great to be ignored. Afghanistan's central vision on this innovative curriculum development process is to nurture highly skilled citizens who can respond to the needs of the future job market. Girls’ education, education technology, and women's empowerment through lifelong learning represent the main targets for Afghanistan's educational strategic plan. Based on the Afghan national constitution, and on education law, the country’s goal is to enhance the education system on three interconnected levels:
- Quality and relevance
- Equitable and efficient access
- Transparent management.
The IBE has been closely working with the UNESCO Kabul office during the past few years to provide extensive support regarding the curriculum reform process. The IBE’s visit happened at the right moment when the country wishes to implement those changes in the education system and make it more inclusive, innovative and forward-looking.
Mr. Renato Opertti, IBE Senior Programme Specialist, pointed out: "We can no longer ignore the inequity among countries by which the disruptive effects of technologies focus only on a few people, allowing them to better their lives, while other groups remain potentially marginalized from the fourth industrial revolution.”
More news on the Facebook page of UNESCO Kabul Office.
For more information on our technical assistance in curriculum reform, please contact:
Mr. Renato Opertti at r.opertti@unesco.orgMs. Hyekyung Kang at h.kang2@unesco.org
