Final evaluation Netherlands participation in ISAF 2006 - 2010

population. This programme focused on the building of schools, theinvolvement of parent committees, curriculum development, improvededucation management, and incentives for teachers. It also devotedattention to support centres for management and supervision of educationin the districts. Attention was also focused on setting up a teacher trainingcollege, a multipurpose training college and establishing an educationprogramme specifically for deprived children (primarily girls). However, theflow of national funds from the EQUIP programme to the province proved tobe difficult. This caused delays in the building of schools and the paymentof teachers’ salaries. The Netherlands, together with the other donors,frequently raised this issue.The number of functioning schools and the number of school-going childrenin Uruzgan increased substantially over the period 2006 – 2010: from 34 to166 operational schools; 42,772 children go regularly to school, of whom6,774 are girls. The EQUIP programme provided all districts with education,except the districts of Chahar Chineh and Gizab. EQUIP did, however,provide course material to schools in Gizab via an Afghan NGO. TheNetherlands also supported the EQUIP programme for the construction ofprimary schools. By mid-2010, there were 53 under construction, of which42 were already operating at other – temporary – locations. SchoolManagement Committees were also set up. And also in Khas Uruzgan, tenEQUIP schools were financed by Dutch funds via UNICEF. It should benoted, however, that there were shortcomings in the monitoring of theEQUIP programme.For the long-term character of these investments, it was essential not onlyto put up a building, but also to have teachers and course material. Inaddition to the EQUIP programme, the Netherlands therefore also providedthe finance for Save the Children to carry out education projects inUruzgan. At the request of the Afghan Ministry of Education, this NGOconcentrated its efforts on expanding the pool of qualified teaching staff inthe five southern provinces, with the emphasis on Uruzgan, and improvedaccess to education by increasing the number of schools. According to theavailable data, in 2010 there were a total of 1,126 teachers, 67 of whomfemale. However, they often have to wait several months before receivingtheir pay. This means that teachers sometimes develop other sources ofincome and therefore have no time for their pupils. To make matters worse,the teachers often have to fetch their salaries themselves in Tarin Kowt, sothat a part of their pay is spent on travel and bribes. The arrival of the newgovernor in December 2010 opened up new opportunities of putting an endto these unsound practices.In addition, Save the Children directed its efforts, via the Quality PrimaryEducation Project (QPEP), at community-based learning. This proved to bea successful activity in which Accelerated Learning Classes (ALCs) were setup in private houses for children who, on account of the unstable situation,were unable to undergo formal education. A total of 130 of these classeswere set up.Finally, at the request of the Ministry of Education and with the goal ofrelieving the acute shortage of teachers, 120 educational scholarships wereprovided for students from the southern provinces (at least 60 fromUruzgan). It is expected that about half of these will return to their regionto take up teaching. All of them are contractually obliged to teach in theirprovince of origin for two years.Page 72 of 133