Community-Based Education for Marginalised Girls in Afghanistan

The Community-Based Education for Marginalised Girls in Afghanistan project supported 49,147 girls in Afghanistan.

Before the regime change in 2021, there were many pre-existing structural, cultural and geographic barriers and challenges that limited girls’ access to education. This included social norms which placed low value on girls’ education linked to extremist interpretations of Islam, an inability to afford the costs of education, linguistic barriers, limited employment opportunities which further devalued girls’ education, and a lack of accessibility to schools, particularly in rural and remote communities. With the takeover by the Taliban in 2021, the situation rapidly deteriorated and the authorities officially closed girls’ secondary schools in March 2022. The reality is that many girls have not continued with their education since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project supported the provision of quality education opportunities for marginalised and out-of-school girls who were too old to enter the public education system, and provided access to education through a community-based education (CBE) model. Girls, aged from 10 to 15 years old participated in an Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP), which saw them complete two academic years within one calendar year. The CBE model is specifically focused on supporting vulnerable and marginalised learners who may lack the resources, access and support from their community and caregivers to enter quality education and transition across grade levels. The project worked on increasing attendance, improving the quality of teaching and learning, improving perceptions and attitudes towards girls’ education and young women’s role in society, and strengthening local systems.

Main activities

• Establishing secondary and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) community hubs in disadvantaged communities.
• Providing life skills and leadership support for girls.
• Providing teacher professional development for CBE teachers and government teachers.
• Engaging with community stakeholders to shift negative social norms and increase active support for girls’ education.
• Strengthening school management.

The project in numbers

Lessons learned

Working in challenging contexts requires constant innovation, testing and adaptation. To find spaces to engage meaningfully with girls in Afghanistan, organisations and donors have to be flexible, test out potential pathways and have the flexibility to change interventions based on any shifts in the context. Budget flexibility is key as is time flexibility as it enables partners to make appropriate adaptations that respond to the context and to take time to assess risks and needs of girls.

Multisectoral approaches are required to ensure continuous engagement with girls. While opportunities for formal learning remain restricted for girls in Afghanistan, interventions that continue to provide life and leadership skills outside of the formal learning space remain. Projects can continue to engage girls, build their life skills and support their well-being though technical training and through health interventions. Education-related work can be integrated into health initiatives. For example, relating to girls’ life skills, well-being and safety.

Prioritise mental health support for adolescent girls. The project’s Endline Evaluation found that girls were struggling with mental health concerns. This included experiences of anxiety and depression. Providing adolescent girls with emotion regulation support can help them better manage their own wellbeing under the current conditions. The project responded to these needs by running a remote emotional management programme for girls, delivered through mobile phones, on a weekly basis.

Include female shura to ensure girls are supported. Many girls in the project were 15 years old or older. Due to cultural expectations, older girls were pulled into supporting household responsibilities, with an escalation of daily chores and acceptance of early marriage leaving them more vulnerable to absenteeism. Thus, female shuras became a close monitoring system to ensure girls continued access to education, who then communicated any absence and marriage-related dropout, and worked with project partners and families to return girls to school.