Afghanistan

Rebuilding Schools, Rebuilding Lives
ADB's Education Sector Team Visits Afghanistan

Kabul: First Stop

As a follow up to the Tokyo Ministerial Conference on the Reconstruction of Afghanistan in January 2002, ADB was assigned responsibility for assisting the Afghan Interim government to prepare a detailed needs assessment in the education sector.

	READY FOR TAKE-OFF. ADB team flies to Kabul to assist in the development of the education sector.

The ADB team - myself, Project Economist Leah Gutierrez, and Education Specialist Jouko Savi left Manila for Islamabad on 23 February 2002. Other staff from the World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO, the Islamic Development Bank, and USAID joined us in Islamabad. We were scheduled to go to Kabul on 26 February. Early that morning we headed over to the World Food Program office in Islamabad to check in for the flight. Several groups were milling around the UN parking lot. Some were destined for Herat, others for Mazar-i- Sharif; the Kabul-bound group was the largest.

After weighing every piece of luggage, including handcarry, and paying a hefty overweight charge, we boarded an airport bus around 9:00 AM. "Hurry up and wait" became our slogan that morning. After the usual confusion at the airport we boarded a Fokker jet operated by a South African charter company, only to be told that the power unit on the ground was out of order and they could not start the engines. So we returned to the terminal, where we met the Deputy Minister of Education, Mr. Shirin Aqa Manavi So our mission started right there in Islamabad airport with a detailed discussion with the Deputy Minister over tea and pound cake.

We were finally airborne at around 2:00 PM. The 40-minute flight was over rough, inhospitable terrain that looked like a moonscape. As we approached Kabul we could see small mountain valleys with tiny villages and small fields just beginning to turn green. Kabul is located in a huge valley surrounded by the high snow-capped Hindu Kush Range.

As our plane descended we could see several large compounds with shattered buildings blackened by recent bombings. No bomb craters around the buildings, just direct hits on the structures themselves.

Kabul airport is littered with rusting hulks of destroyed military aircraft: the remains of two decades of war. Ariana Airlines, the national carrier, is in the air again. A true phoenix! Spare parts should not be a problem with the number of junk aircrafts scattered around the aprons.

Signs at the airport remind passengers not to step off the tarmac due to mines. Mine clearing teams were at work in the distance like farmers tending a lethal crop. Another sign reminds visitors that 800,000 Afghans have been killed or injured by mines and that 10 million mines remain to be cleared. The air terminal has obviously been the scene of recent fighting but small teams were working to make it operable. All things considered, the terminal functioned well and we met our local liaison officer, Mr. Salim Qayum who helped us move quickly through customs and immigration. Someone took our passports as we exited the terminal; they were stamped with visas and returned to us a few days later by someone on a bicycle. Great service.

A short ride into town brought us to the ASSA Guesthouse just off Flower Street, named for its many plastic flower shops. The guesthouse was much more comfortable than expected. A large dining -cum- sitting room downstairs had a satellite TV (300 stations and nothing to watch) and even a computer. Upstairs were several spacious rooms with potbelly stoves. A generator was cranked up during frequent power outages. The balcony outside my room provided a gorgeous view of the Hindu Kush range with a fresh coat of snow glowing pink in the early morning light. In the evenings we'd stand on the balcony ritualistically waving our satellite phones at the heavens waiting for the "click, click, click" of the phone logging onto the satellite.

Our cook served up delicious meals of lamb and chicken and "Qabuli"pulau, rice mixed with raisins and nuts. An earlier ADB team had taught him to make minestrone soup which he did with regularity. Apples and tangerines for dessert. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, nan, and "Happy Cow" cheese from Austria. The 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM curfew produced the kind of quiet, still, perfect-for-sleeping nights that a modern city dweller can hardly remember.

Education: A Priority

Our first item of business was to see Mr. Ashraf Ghani, the Director of the Afghan Assistance Coordination Agency and a senior AIA official. We learned that we had to go through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get an appointment. No time for that. We drove to the Royal Palace with our liaison officer and, waving our business cards, talked our way through several security cordons and into the palace. We waited in a large sitting room furnished with antique Louis XIV style chairs. One could imagine the royal family having tea and scones there in better times. We sent our business cards in and Mr. Ghani came out to invite us into his room. We had an hour-long conversation with him on his vision of the education sector. We quickly discovered that we were pretty much on the same wavelength about development of the education sector:

	MEETING OF THE MINDS. The team meets with AACA Director Ashraf Ghani. From left, J. Sarvi (ADB), B. Herbert (World Bank), Ashraf, Ed Haugh (Team Leader), Mohammed Salem (Islamic Development Bank).

• rehabilitate basic education as a priority while maintaining regional and gender equity
• support job training and revitalization of the universities could not be ignored
• try to "leapfrog" over the old Soviet education system into a modern system based on student-centered learning
• use the power of information and communications technologies and the existing capacity of NGOs
• build the capacity of the sector ministries

We had our marching orders.

Next we visited the Minister of Education, Abdul Rasoul Amin, through our connections made in the Islamabad airport. The Minister had a long queue of visitors waiting outside his office but consented to see us. He admitted to being daunted by the complex problem of bringing 1.5 million students into school by the end of March. Nevertheless he was keen to tackle the task. The condition of the Ministry could only be described as heartbreaking. Little remains of the once well-established facility. No furniture, no books, no computers. A forlorn duplicating machine tended by a large cadre of dejected officials is all that is left of the Ministry's printing capacity. The Taliban had looted everything. Worse yet, staff seemed to have no real work, they were just sitting around waiting.

Back to School

With MOE help we arranged a program of school visits. We first went to the southern part of town where a decade ago fratricidal battles for Kabul had raged after the defeat of the Soviets in a process called "blowback". Here, whole neighborhoods are vast vistas of rubble. Driving through mostly empty streets we could see that this was once a vibrant neighborhood where middle class families mingled with diplomatic families. A ghost town of destroyed lives and broken dreams is all that remains. But a few families seem to have hung on, perhaps in desperation with nowhere to escape.

We visited Habibia High School, a once proud Lycee founded in 1903 and covering grades 1 - 12. Habibia is the alma mater of many of Afghanistan's most prominent leaders. The school building has been virtually destroyed by shelling and rocket fire. We toured destroyed classrooms with gapping holes in the walls, destroyed blackboards, looted electrical wiring, and no furniture. Radiators scattered around the building indicated that it was once a warm, inviting place that trained "sensitive and intelligent young men." A few students mingled with our group. Already they spoke rudimentary English and were keen to communicate with us. Sad stories of orphaned lives emerged from our conversations. Yet hope lingers in the prospects of learning and rebuilding the nation. But we asked ourselves whether such a school could be rebuilt or indeed whether in the new reality, such an elite institution would even merit rebuilding? Who is going to pay for the heating and lighting for such a large institution?

NO CLASS? School buildings have been destroyed by rocket fire.

We then visited a girls' school that had been badly destroyed. The ground floor, though, had already been repaired. Here, Burqa-clad girls milled around eager for school to restart on 23 March. Many had attended an informal winter session to hone forgotten study skills. How did you maintain their English during the Taliban years when you were confined to your homes? "My brother taught me." "Are you happy now that you are free to go to school?" "Sure, why not?" Female teachers were planning for March 23. None were at all shy or hesitant to talk to us. Camera shy? No, not at all. Neat piles of brick rescued from the rubble were stacked in the schoolyard waiting for the reconstruction effort to start. Male and female teachers congregated in the teachers' room of another school planning for school opening. Contractors repaired door and window frames. But there was no sign of new furniture. UNICEF-supplied school materials were scheduled to arrive any minute.

A destroyed Soviet tank rests in the middle of a playground outside one of the schools. Children play on the tank and visitors take pictures. An entrepreneurial Afghan charges a pittance for a ride on a small hand cranked Ferris wheel. The adjacent school has been destroyed but a few classrooms rehabilitated.

It is not just the physical facilities that have been destroyed. Twenty-three years of war have decimated the population. Over 50,000 war widows try to eke a living in Kabul, many by begging. But the burqa is not suited even for begging since eye contact cannot be established. Amputees are everywhere, limping on one leg or sitting in wheel chairs if both legs have been taken by the landmines. Throngs of beggar children wander the streets asking for money or food.

We arranged a final meeting with Ashraf Ghani, Director of the Afghan Assistance Coordination Agency. On the way to the Royal Palace, we noticed more security and it took some time to move through the security cordon. When we finally reached the Palace we noticed people running away from the walls of the palace. Large stones were falling off the wall and we thought it might have been the result of artillery fire. Later we learned there was an earthquake. I wouldn't say the falling debris almost hit our car, but it was too close for comfort.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS. Vendors of fruits and vegetables flock the market .

Amidst the destruction of infrastructure and the decimation of human resources I sensed that Afghanistan is a country that is ready to get back on its feet. Already markets are vibrant. Vendors hawk gorgeous fruits and vegetables. Money changers are keen to exchange huge stacks of "Afs" for hard currency. Traffic is snarled at key intersections. Kebab shops are doing a brisk, smoky business. There is hope in the air. There are many challenges facing the education sector - recruiting, retraining, and paying teachers and administrators, building capacity to operate and manage the system, developing new curriculum, and providing materials and supplies.

But one thing is for sure - the children are ready to get back to school.

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The views expressed in this article are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of others, or of ADB.

• Read the final draft report of the Comprehensive Needs Assessment in Education July 2002



• Travel with Claire Wee and learn more about ADB's first mission to Afghanistan in 20 years



• View the Photo Gallery -" Afghanistan: The Aftermath"