Critical Teacher Shortage
Lack of teachers remains a huge problem in Afghanistan where the school system had been flooded by students since the fall of the first Taliban rule. Due to the repercussions of that period, women teachers were especially in need. Of the 412 districts in Afghanistan, 245 currently don’t have a single woman qualified to teach. In rural areas, finding a qualified teacher is even more difficult.
Before coming here I was shy to enter the classroom. I couldn’t even greet the guests who visited our house. After coming here, I have changed a lot. Now I can teach and manage a class by myself.”
Sahar Teacher Training Center Graduate
Sahar is Leading the Way in Teacher Training
Before the fall of the republic, The Afghan teacher training centers funded and managed by Sahar taught several hundred rural teachers the fundamentals of teaching. We focused specifically on training teachers at rural girls’ schools. We funded teachers’ transportation from their villages into urban teacher training centers, allowing the women to receive certification then return to their villages to teach. Others, who may have more difficulty traveling, attended training centers in rural schools. Training these teachers effectively sustained programs for girls’ education in rural areas.
Our more remote Afghan training center was so successful that it was later used as a model by the Afghan Ministry of Education for similar projects. Hundreds of teachers have been trained thanks to Sahar’s training centers, more than 70 percent of which are women. These new teachers are giving thousands of Afghan girls access to educations they otherwise would not have. Additionally, trained teachers can make livings, strengthening and stabilizing their own families and communities.