To see the progress in construction of Sokhtagi school, Nai Qalaâs President attended a site meeting in October. She was able to see that construction work was progressing on time and according to plan. The walls are out of the ground and growing.
Tag Archives: education
Enabling entrance to university (2)
After the successful capacity-building project at Zeera Gag, Nai Qala has carried out its tutoring program in the village of Tagab Barg.
Tagab Barg school is having a positive impact on lives in the village. It is a reward for the community which continues to be supportive of their girlsâ education.
The first step of Nai Qala’s objective for Tagab Barg â to provide over 600 girls with basic education in a proper environment – has been achieved but Nai Qala needed to provide additional support with enhanced education to help these students develop their skills and find job opportunities. In practical terms, we returned to Tagab Barg school with a dedicated set of tuition courses to help students obtain higher marks and prepare for the Kankor university entrance examination. Over 182 teenagers (120 girls and 62 boys) registered for the course.
Amena is 16 years old and is in 12th grade at Tagab Barg school. Here she holds the course material she has received from NQA for the preparation course for the national university entrance examination. Amena told us:
âI am coming from one of the villages in the Tagab Bargâs region. From my family, 4 of us are coming to school, 2 sisters and 2 brothers. We are very much encouraged by our parents and community. I am very excited to attend such a course to allow me progress further in my education. My dream is to become journalist. I believe that through communication and awareness I can help my community who lives in isolation. … Through the media I can keep my community aware of what is going on beyond our isolated village, and at the same time I can bring the voice of my people to the world to tell everyone that we exist and we have dreams and ambitionâ.
Enabling entrance to university
Enabling young people in rural areas to take Afghanistanâs national university entrance examination
Astonishingly, the village of Zeera Gag did not even have a school building two years ago. Children and teenagers had to study outside in all weathers until Nai Qala built them a school in 2015. Now, not only can they study in decent conditions but they even have the unprecedented opportunity to apply to go to university. As of January 2017, Nai Qala provided a course of supplementary lessons for the older students â both young men and young women â to prepare them for the Kankor (university entrance) examination. When the course was announced, 160 of Zeera Gagâs older students asked to join it.
A ceremony in the village marked the end of the Kankor preparation course. As of early May, 24 students (13 young women and 11 young men) had enrolled to take the Kankor examination. Not all the students on this yearâs course will succeed in obtaining a place at a university, but it is hoped that some of them will. Before Nai Qala arrived in Zeera Gag a few years ago, no young people took the examination in any case, so all the students are proud â and their community is proud of them â that they were good enough to complete a course focused on university entrance. This alone gives them an advantage in finding promising occupations in their region.
For those who will attend university, their prospects for employment in their home areas are good. When state agencies or NGOs want to carry out important programs in these areas, it is hard to find a qualified doctor, engineer, agronomist, teacher, vetâ â or other professions â from these regions. Educated young people can strengthen their communities, their provinces, and their country too.
A sweet tradition in Sokhtagi
Opening ceremony to celebrate the start of construction work at Sokhtagi school.
The first stone was laid down by the chief of Sokhtagi community as well as the provincial education minister.
Local tradition is to wrap the first stone in a red fabric, tied it with a ribbon and have sweets.
ECD simple hygiene measures
Early Childhood Education program includes basic hygiene measures
During the early childhood education class, children learn how to wash their hands before going to class or before eating. Children are effective communicators and agents of change: they learn the habits of good hygiene at school and pass them on home and in the community. For children, this direct involvement in the promotion of hygiene inculcates a sense of personal capacity building.
According to Unicef, every day about 4,000 children under five die of diarrheal diseases worldwide. Washing hands with soap and water is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to prevent these deaths. Washing hands reduces the number of deaths associated with diarrhea by more than 40% and acute respiratory illness by around 25%.
Promoting good hygiene and health habits early in life can lead to lifelong hygiene behaviors.
Sokhtagi school construction just started
Construction of the new school building just started in the village of Sokhtagi, with the support of the community
Villagers rented a tractor and prepared the field so that construction could start: 6 meter deep, on a surface of 1300 square meters.
The ceremony for the opening of the construction happened in the presence of the local community, the provincial minister of education and, of course, the girls who will benefit from the new building.
Capacity building
Nai Qala offers tutoring classes for students who are preparing for the exam entrance to university
To overcome the students’gaps in scientific topics such as mathematics, physics or chemistry, Nai Qala recruited three teachers with a university degree in science to give tutorial classes during the winter break.
200 students from Zeera Gag school have benefited from tutorial classes during 3 month, January-April 2017. The course focused on the preparation for the Kankor examination, the exam for university entrance.
To know more about Nai Qala’s capacity project, click here
ECD classes have started
New engagement, new horizon of hope: Â Early Childhood Development Education (pre-school education).
Over the past 10 years, the Nai Qala Association (NQA) has built schools in regions where children had never even seen a school building. We believe in strengthening their dignity by ensuring that children learn in proper conditions.
Now we are adding a new dimension to our engagement: we are now providing Early Childhood Development (ECD) classes to improve the quality of education for young children aged 5-ï6 years in the regions where we have built schools.
Dignity through quality learning facilities and quality education is the way forward in rural Afghanistan which accounts for more than 80% of the countryâs population.
The ECD program helps children to develop their imagination, talents and confidence at a very young age.
2 pilot ECD classes have started in July
Education
We improve learning conditions by building and equipping schools, and by providing quality education program to children from preschool to higher education.
We work on the root causes of low/no attendance of children, in particular girls, to education by remedying to the absence of decent learning conditions and by preventing drop out.
- We improve learning conditions by:
- Building school facilities; and equipping schools with teaching material;
- Improving the qualification of teachers;
- Improving the scientific capacities of students;
- Bringing school to remote communities trough community based education;
- Providing hygiene/toilet blocks, for each school we build;Â
- Protecting children’s privacy by building boundary walls, for each school we build.
- We contribute to prevent drop out by:
- Providing early childhood education classes;
- Talking with the community; Â
- Setting up motivation meeting with children, parents and teachers;
- Reducing walking distance to school.