Session Overview: Afghanistan and Angola

From Emergency Reforms to Sustainable Development of Education Systems in Afghanistan and Angola


Global Consultation 2009, Istanbul

Tuesday 31 March, 16:45-18:30: Concurrent Learning Session Block 2

Abstract

Afghanistan and Angola are recovering from two of the most destructive and protracted wars in history. Despite educational reform efforts to repair the damage, major ongoing challenges include: unequal access to education for learners; insufficient quantity and quality of teaching personnel, including shortages of female teachers; limited to non-existent educational infrastructures; educational reforms implemented by the Ministries of Education that have suffered from severe delays or have not been effectively institutionalized into ministerial structures; and the threat of terrorism against teachers and pupils (Afghanistan only).

Amidst these challenges, presenters will propose options for possible ways to bridge the gaps between emergency reform initiatives and the transition to post-conflict reconstruction as well as how to incorporate measures and responses into education policies and programs that will mitigate the effects of challenges associated with the post-war contexts of Afghanistan and Angola.

In the case of Afghanistan, challenges caused by security threats, extremely slow pace of personnel and institutional capacity development, discontinuation of reform activities, collapse of temporary parallel structures, and lack of strategies for transition from emergency reforms to sustainable development will be specifically discussed.

In the case of Angola, the efforts of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to sustain the Teacher Emergency Package (TEP) both during and after the conflict that affected the country for 27 years will be examined. Findings will demonstrate the ways in which the country’s transition from relief to development affected NRC’s ability to transfer the TEP to the Angolan government, thereby compromising its sustainability but also creating new opportunities to integrate certain human, material, and physical resources into the recovering educational system.

Session Objectives

  • Objective 1: To illustrate the damages inflicted on an education system due to approximately thirty-years of war and unrest in Afghanistan and Angola
  • Objective 2: To identify the challenges faced by reform initiatives
  • Objective 3: To propose measures for a smooth transition from emergency to sustainable development in education


Expected Outcomes

  • Outcome 1: Challenges associated and faced by the reform initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan
  • Outcome 2: Recommendations for dealing with the impediments to transition from an emergency mood to a sustainable system where institutional and individual capacities are strengthened and temporary structures are integrated through structural reforms or phasing out.


Panel

Chair: Rudiger Blumor

Presenters:

  • Susan Wardak, Senior Policy Advisor & Director General, Teacher Education, Ministry of Education, Afghanistan;
  • Dr. Michael Hirth, Head of Basic Education Program for Afghanistan, German Technical Cooperation
  • Mary Mendenhall, INEE


Materials


For more information regarding this session please contact the Session Coordinator Michael Hirth at {encode="michael.hirth@gtz.de" title="michael.hirth@gtz.de"}.

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