The Czech humanitarian and development agency People in Need (PIN), in cooperation with FAO Afghanistan and Mercy Corps, has organized a 12-day training course in animal husbandry for agricultural high school teachers. The training course is part of a joint project funded by Mercy Corps and implemented by PIN which is aimed at improving the teaching process within the network of agricultural high schools in Afghanistan. Since 2006, PIN and Mercy Corps have been working on the revision of curricula for agricultural subjects taught at agricultural high schools. As a second step, a series of methodological and subject-oriented courses for teachers is being organized. The project is the first attempt to update the teaching process at agricultural high schools in the last thirty years. The agricultural high school teachers have welcomed the opportunity to refresh the basics of agricultural subjects and learn about new agricultural topics and developments, as well as to obtain new teaching materials and working plans. ns.

At present, agricultural high schools in Afghanistan are struggling with an alarming lack of qualified teachers as well as with insufficient learning space and badly equipped teaching facilities. The schools do not receive much attention from international donors and government authorities. In the majority of these schools the classes are held in old, partially damaged school buildings which are far from meeting the standards of a specialized institution of vocational education.

This was not the case during the pre-war period when the agricultural high schools were considered key players in agricultural development in the provinces and the most prestigious amongst institutions of secondary education. "My school had a hard time during the war years. We had to evacuate our original building, our experimental farm was destroyed, we lost our livestock. However, before the war, several ministers graduated from our institution," said Shir Mohammad, a teacher from Baghlan Agriculture High School who has come to Kabul to study animal husbandry. l to study animal husbandry. l to study animal husbandry. l to study animal husbandry.

In cooperation with agriculture experts from Kabul University and the Balkh University in Mazar-e Shariff, thirty three teaching plans comprising all vocational subjects taught at agricultural high schools have been prepared and are about to be introduced into the teaching process. Simultaneously, teacher training courses are currently being organized to enhance the vocational and pedagogical skills of one hundred and fifty teachers of agricultural high schools. Thirty three teachers arrived in Kabul from the provinces for a training course in animal husbandry organized by PIN and Mercy Corps in cooperation with FAO Afghanistan. The training course consisted of practical demonstrations and field classes lead by experienced FAO trainers at several farms and FAO research units in Kabul and in the Logar province.

PIN has been focusing on the rehabilitation of the educational sector in Afghanistan since January 2002. "Our activities in the educational sector encompass diverse strands of the Afghan population from primary school pupils in the desert and mountain communities to agricultural high school teachers in the provincial centers without forgetting illiterate adults who dropped out of the educational system due to the years of conflicts. Improving the quality of education at all levels means improving the general standard of living in Afghanistan," says Tomas Muzik, Education Program Manager of PIN. "In addition to the tailor-made educational packages for marginalized communities in Northern and Central Afghanistan, we intend to focus in further detail on agricultural high schools in the provinces to which international donors and government authorities still have not addressed attention and support to the extent they definitely deserve," he adds.

In the past five years, PIN has built or reconstructed 81 school buildings in Afghanistan. Currently, construction work on a dormitory for Baghlan Agriculture High School, which will accommodate 200 students, is about to start in Baghlan-e Jadid, Baghlan province. The construction is a part of the Rehabilitation of Baghlan Agriculture High School project funded by the Czech government. PIN's other education-related activities include vocational training for primary school teachers, development of the school sector and adult literacy courses. Most of the educational projects are funded by the Czech Ministry of Education. Mercy Corps is funding the program for the rehabilitation of the teaching process at agricultural high schools and the Afghan Ministry of Education is cofinancing the construction of the dormitory in Baghlan.

For more information contact: Tomas Muzik, Education Programme Manager in Afghanistan Cell: (+93) (0) 799 696 639. For more information about People in Need activities visit www.peopleinneed.cz.