Help Afghan Communities Help Themselves

A unique attribute of AIL’s community-based education is its student-centered, interactive teaching method that fosters critical thinking. Traditionally, Afghan education has focused on rote memorization and lectures. AIL’s teacher training and subsequent monitoring and supervision program is the basis for its provision of high quality educational programs. AIL’s teaching method allows women and girls to speak up (many for the first time), ask questions, think creatively, and practice problem solving while learning the subject at hand.

The year 2010 began by AIL  supporting  10 Learning Centers in Herat, 13 in Kabul, and 2 in Pakistan; for a total of 25 Centers.   In March through May, AIL Herat began supporting three new Learning Centers; in Hazrat Bilal with 850 students (440 female) and in May both the Cultural Association (210 students, all female) and Obee District (78 students, all female) Centers made their debut.  Three more additions to the Kabul programs at Kariz-e-Mir (14 students, 6 female), Wardak (22 students, all female), and Logar (33 students, all female) were opened in areas with high levels of insecurity in December. Unfortunately, that poor security forced the temporary suspension of the Hindawan Center, but the staff, students, and community are looking forward to its reopening as soon as possible.  In Kabul, one of the Centers that provided high school level academic courses to only girls in Mir Bacha Kot was absorbed into another larger Center, and two other Centers in Nasir Khisraw Balkhi and Tolo-e-Mahtab were ready to be turned over to their local communities for program continuation.  In 2010, AIL’s Learning Centers provided an education to 21,870 students (68% female)!