More than 30,000 primary-aged children in remote areas of Afghanistan will be able to go to school next year, thanks to a £490,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund to CARE International.
Children who live in remote areas of
the country - and who otherwise would not be able to attend school because
walking even a few kilometres is impossible when roads are blocked by snow
for part of the year, for instance - are now able to learn new skills
and will have a better chance in life.
CARE's COPE (Community Organised Primary Education in Afghanistan) project reaches boys and girls among rural communities in selected districts of five provinces in southeast and central Afghanistan - where girls' enrolment is the lowest in the country.
Girls, who traditionally have no role in family decisions or social affairs, will particularly benefit from this modern education, which fits with CARE's focus on raising awareness among communities of the rights of women and girls, with the long-term intention of strengthening women's political, social and economic status in Afghanistan.
Many of the schools established in the COPE project are set up in mosques and in houses and central meeting places, according to Afghan culture. This also respects traditional community views that women and girls should stay close to the home. CARE schools are not religious, however, but emphasize child, women's and civil rights, as well as peace education.
The Big Lottery Fund grant, which was announced on December 20, will go towards extending the first phase of the COPE project, which saw nearly 22,000 children go to new schools set up in remote communities, teachers trained, and links established between communities and the Afghanistan Ministry of Education.