The outbreak of COVID-19 severally affected education in Afghanistan. At the outset of the outbreak, schools were closed, and 8.7 million children couldn't attend school. Aid Afghanistan For Education's (AAE) schools closed as well.
The Ministry of Education instructed students to continue their education from home by attending the education programs through radio and televisions. However, this solution isn't affordable to most of families, especially the internally displaced people and returned refugees, a key population that we work with at AAE.
To contribute to the continuous education during the outbreak, AAE initiated the distribution of learning materials to highly marginalized children. In the first phase, AAE mapped the IDPs and returnees camps in Kabul, and through close coordination with the Kabul Education Directorate, distributed educational materials to 300 children.
Tracking the result of the initiative, the target beneficiaries identified the learning materials useful to their continuous education. Hanifa, a third-grade student, said,
"When the schools closed, I was advised by the school management to stay at home. My family couldn't afford the costs of the self-learning materials. So, I had to continue learning without the needed materials. When I received the learning materials from AAE, since then, I am effectively learning, and I can read and write by myself."
In the next phases, AAE will expand the distribution of learning materials to highly marginalized students.
Hassina Sherjan
Executive Director