Building a School Complex for Male and Female Students in Herat (Afghanistan)
As a part of Poland’s foreign aid program for 2009, the project is co-financed by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On December 20, 2009 a big school building was officially opened for public use in Payan Ab District, Herat, Afghanistan. Payan Ab is one of the most poverty-stricken districts in Herat, a city located in the north-western part of the country. Until that day the Payan Ab population of 17,000 had virtually no school buildings at their disposal, and classes had been held in tents regardless of weather conditions.
The project was successfully completed by the ‘Education for Peace’ Association in co-operation with their Afghan partner – Herat Youth Union, HYU.
As a part of Poland’s foreign aid program for 2009, the project is co-financed by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through project subsidy no. 191/2009: ‘Equal Opportunities for Girls and Boys through Equal Access to Education in Herat (Construction of a School)’. This subsidy was one of the highest subsidies granted by the Polish government in 2009, and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarded our project as exemplary. The main objective as defined in the project was to provide children and the youth of Herat with equal access to education in a friendly and safe environment, to promote women’s social advancement through equal rights in the field of education and to enhance public knowledge about food hygiene.
The new school building with an area of 960 m² consists of 14 rooms: 10 classrooms and 6 auxiliary rooms (a staffroom, a library, etc.). There is also a computer room in the building.
Implementing a shift-work system allows for an introduction of male and female groups, a division that does not stand in contradiction to the Afghan tradition. As an effect, the citizens of Herat will be more inclined towards sending their daughters to the school. A three-shift education system will embrace 1,500 male and female students at the age of 7–18 (classes 1–9). A construction of a second floor addition onto the existing building has been planned for 2011 to make room for 3,000 students in total.
In addition to that, an information program on basic hygiene requirements and healthy feeding is run at school. The program includes distribution of an illustrated information brochure (designed in co-operation with the National Food And Nutrition Institute, Poland) along with hygiene tool kits. It also covers an oral information campaign run by a group of qualified teachers who have undergone our training.
Once the school construction works has been completed, we are still going to provide assistance by means of collecting teaching materials and aids, computer hardware and office supplies.
This has been the fifth school building established in Afghanistan by the ‘Education for Peace’ Association team.
The school building opening ceremony was attended by, inter alia, the following persons: the Vice-President of Herat Provincial Council Abdul Zahir Faizadeh, the Head of the Herat Provincial Department of Education Ghulam Hazrat Tenhah, the Deputy Director of the Herat Provincial Department of Education Arwin Tahery, the Payan Ab School Headmaster Abdolwase Forootan, the President of Herat Youth Union Ehsan Hajizadah, the Vice-President of Herat Youth Union Ali Ashgar Yaghoobi, the President of the ‘Education for Peace’ Association and Professor of the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities Piotr Balcerowicz, a board member of the ‘Education for Peace’ Association Piotr Boruszkowski. The ceremony was covered by local Afghan media, such as television, radio and press.
During the ceremony, the authorities of Herat Province represented by the Vice-President of Herat Provincial Council Mr. Abdul Zahir Faizadeh and our local partners Herat Youth Union expressed both orally and in writing their appreciation for the aid provided by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ‘Education for Peace’ Association
The ‘Education for Peace’ Association would like to express their most sincere gratitude for all the aid and financial support required to complete the project that were given by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Development Co-operation Department.
Read more about our project in Newsweek:
www.newsweek.pl/artykuly/sekcje/newsweek_swiat/poland--nie-holland-,47310,1
Press Info: Construction Works Started
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