JUBILEE ROOM, HOUSE OF COMMONS, WESTMINSTER
THURSDAY 26 JULY 2007
PROJECT PROMOTER
PROJECT CONSULTANTS
PROJECT PARTNERS
Technical and Vocational Education and Training Department, Ministry of Education Afghanistan, NEDA Afghanistan, Afghanaid, World Assembly of Youth, Coventry Circle, Coventry Cathedral, Coventry University, Multimedia University Malaysia, Coventry Ethnic Minority Action Partnership(CEMAP), West Midlands Police Community Forum, AOC & Associates, Qais Consulting,
Parallel Thinking (Europe) Ltd
PROJECT SPONSOR
THE CONTEXT
 After three decades of war and destruction, Afghanistan is now progressing into post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation. The future remains fragile and, given the obstacles and challenges that the new Government faces, the world community is once again taking notice and promising aid to rebuild the country’s fragile infrastructure. But this is only the beginning. The road to sustainable development in Afghanistan is long and full of obstacles and travelling that road requires perseverance, foresight, dedication, cultural sensitivity, and care.
This feasibility study will explore the potential for a major development programme focused on ICTs - Information and Communications Technologies – and how men and women in Afghanistan can acquire the ICT skills people elsewhere take for granted. The purpose of the study is to identify what is needed and how best it might be delivered – and thus to raise substantial funding to develop a programme working in up to 5 centres over a period of 5 years.
The main elements in the programme will include training in ICTs, management/enterprise development skills and English language.
Target groups of beneficiaries will be un- and under-employed Afghan people, the Afghan staff of local and international aid agencies, non governmental organisations, inter-governmental and other development agencies (eg the UN, the World Bank), small businesses and micro enterprises and academic institutions (schools, colleges, universities). Key partners in Afghanistan include the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Department (TVET) of the Ministry of Education, who are responsible for 42 technical schools across the country (17 in the Kabul area), NEDA, the country's leading internet provider and Afghanaid.
Our suspicion is that, in a country with endemic poverty and the highest levels of illiteracy in the world (70% across the country and 85% among women in rural areas), acquiring ICT skills is not yet seen as a priority by most people or organisations. Most employed Afghans, therefore, remain in low level jobs with low salaries - and huge numbers are unemployed and destitute. The professional and higher skilled job opportunities requiring ICT skills and expertise (and usually English) are dependent on foreign expertise brought in from India, Pakistan, China and the West. The opportunity to acquire and develop ICT skills is greatly enhanced by fluency in English - and ICT, English language and administrative skills are part of the range of subjects offered in technical schools and urgently needed in the workplace.
During initial discussions held in Kabul in February 2007 with NEDA, TVET, the World Bank and several NGOs, a clear need was recognised for such training. The possibility also began to emerge of working towards an employment brokerage service (viz UK job centres or employment agencies) which might link with training centres and/or technical schools, assisting those trained in CV and jobsearch skills and employers in recruitment.
Why ICT for Education and Training in Afghanistan?
Through this project, Afghan Action and its partners believe that the skill-set of the Afghan people can be increased - enabling the development of human capital, empowerment and job creation in the ICT and related sectors. Being IT savvy is very important, so ensuring children and young people acquire these skills will prevent them from being excluded from participating in the global information revloution. Poor countries coming out of civil wars and massive disruption need access to information as much as anywhere else, and ICT is the tool by which to get that information.
 The people of Afghanistan have been isolated from the world community for nearly three decades. ICT is vital in helping Afghanistan rejoin the global economy. And recent technological developments, such as the internet, can play an essential role in reconstruction and rehabilitation. ICTs which can be used in education include computers, mobile phones, digital media, television and radio. So there is huge potential in using ICTs for education and capacity building.
Aim of the Initial Contact Meeting and Needs Analysis
Through Afghan Action's growing network and with particular support from four key partners - Minorities of Europe, Afghanaid, NEDA, and TVET (Ministry of Education) – a basic needs assessment process will be developed, culminating in a consultation with 40-50 key participants to check the viability and value of the approach being developed. Assuming sufficient agreement is reached regarding the need, potential and practical deliverability of a significant project, more extensive discussions will be held with the target groups to establish formal contractual arrangements for carrying out comprehensive needs assessments and delivering training in ICT, management/enterprise development skills and English language - subject to the feasibility process being followed by success in raising the funding needed.
Aim of the Large Scale Programme: 2008-2013
The aim of the larger programme is to develop up to 5 self-sustaining Community Education and Training Centres in Afghanistan. A core group of community based workers will be trained and, in the longer term, they will be able to replicate such centres elsewhere. The programme will also focus on increasing knowledge of ICT and its benefits in promoting education and reducing illiteracy and the centres will be available for other community empowerment programmes - including education for young women, the promotion of micro-finance schemes and as all purpose community centres.
About the lead Project Partners
Afghan Action
Afghan Action is the wholly owned trading company of a UK based charity, the Afghan Training Foundation. Its factory and training school in Kabul provide young people with education, training and employment in the traditional carpet industry under fair trade conditions. Afghan Action currently employs 75 people and has 50 trainees. Direct market access in the UK for the carpets is managed by a small staff team in London.
Project Leader:
Minorities of Europe
Minorities of Europe (MoE) is a ‘Pan European Inter-Minority Network’ which seeks to support and assist co-operation, solidarity and exchange between different minority communities and young people in Europe and globally. MoE was established in 1995 as a result of the Council of Europe’s campaign against racism, anti-semitism, xenophobia and intolerance across the continent of Europe. MoE has extensive project and event management experience and has over the last 12 years organised bespoke training programmes such as ‘Swapping Cultures’ and European and international Conferences. MoE creates frameworks that enable and support social entrepreneurs amongst minorities and non-minorities at a local, regional, national and international level.
Project Senior Consultant:
For more information or to offer to support this project, please contact Chris or Eugene
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