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Focus on Teachers
MARCH 2005
Godah School, Wardak province (student population: 114)
Noor Khel school, Wardak province (student population: 246)
Fatima Zahra primary school, Jalalabad (student population: 197)
Trilli School, Nangrahar (student population: 335)
Ms. Basiri visits three of the four Omid schools in March. Her aim is to improve monitoring and review the teachers' workload.
Shanay, age six, a girl from the Godah School.
Fatima Zahra School
The teachers in the school are stretched to capacity, and the principal has asked to hire one more female teacher to alleviate the problem.
Additionally, following a request made to fix a damaged roof in January, funds were allocated to repair the structure and classes are now proceeding as normal.
Trilli Girls School
On March 21 Ms. Basiri meets with the principal of the Trilli Girls School (district of Chapar Har, Nangrahar). A major recruitment drive for new female teachers is underway, and five teachers have been recently hired at the school. The principal has asked that his teachers be paid in line with the Ministry of Education’s recent salary increase. Talks are under way to adopt the new pay scale, but for now teachers are receiving their starting salary.
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Students brave all types of weather for the chance at an education.
Godah School (Wardak)
On March 28, Omid’s project supervisor in Wardak is asked to attend the opening of the school and oversee the registration process for the new academic year. Unfortunately, a land dispute in a neighboring city has resulted in the absence of both the teachers and principal. Classes were cancelled and students sent home. As a consequence, the supervisor and principal agree that all the staff will have their salaries revoked for one month. The salaries for the months of January and February 2005 (when the schools in Wardak were closed) were spent on training the teachers in Kabul. Three organizations, including the International Rescue Committee, taught the sessions. Teachers were brought to the capital and received their salaries in the form of accommodation and per diems.
Noor Khel Wardak School
Omid has received funding for the school supplies requested by the principal and has distributed the money to the school for the purchases.
Absenteeism
Fatima Zahra School is improving its attendance record, by regularly meeting with parents. This helps to keep track of student attendance. The Trilli School will begin officially recording attendance starting in April. No attendance records for the Godah or Noor Khel School are currently available.
With a shortage of women teachers, recruitment is a priority for Omid.
School Registration is pending for the annual budget to be released by the Ministry of Education. As soon as this occurs, registration will be announced. The lack of budget confirmation is a problem not only for Omid’s schools but for the country of Afghanistan. Thousands of students, including the registered schools, have not yet received books. Students, including those in Kabul, are attending classes on the ground with no overhead tent covering. Due to inclement weather, many of the students are sent back to their homes.
Fundraising and NGO Registration Self-help in Jalalabad
Currently there are no fundraising efforts underway, due to Omid being an unregistered organization. Omid has completed the registration process, but all new NGOs must wait for the cabinet decision regarding re-registration. Recently the cabinet has announced that all national and international NGOs must re-submit documents for registration under the new NGO law. A clearer decision regarding processes of application will be made in the Afghanistan Development Forum (ADF) in the next few months.
A voluntary student committee has been set up to help lower grades with their lessons. The older students, who wish to put into practice what they have learned, urged establishment of the committee.
Government Relations and School Registration
Sara Ameryar, Planning Advisor to the Minister of Education, has said that she is committed to registering the Godah school, and that she will allocate funding once the Ministry adopts a budget. She has confirmed that Omid’s registration papers have been received by the Ministry. But she has also said that those provinces which have no schools will be treated as a priority.
NGO Networking and Teacher Recruitment
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is phasing out its program to recruit teachers from Pakistan and is focusing more on hiring teachers in Afghanistan. IRC assistants have been asked to recruit former refugees who are willing to work in the provinces. The IRC has expressed an interest in working closely with Afghan partners.
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Classes are at maximum capacity, where conditions are extremely basic.
OMID Administration/Personnel
Shabnam Aimal, a former English teacher in Iran and Kabul, is currently volunteering with Omid, helping with school registration and representing Ms. Basiri during her field trips.
Overseas Trips
Ms. Basiri recently flew to New York to participate in the Beijing + 10 event, an international conference on women’s human rights, that drew over 2,000 women ( February 26 to March 4 2005.) Ms. Basiri promoted Omid’s work with various organizations and participated in a panel discussion on education in Afghanistan. She also presented her findings to various academics and members of the media, and met with a delegation from The Advocacy Project that traveled up from Washington, DC to see her.
- Read Ms. Basiri's speech highlights at the Beijing +10 in New York, 2005.
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