The constant conflict in Afghanistan over the past decade devastated Afghanistan’s education system and educational institutions. Students, especially female students in Afghanistan are deprived from basic education. According to Central Asia Institute, 71% of female students are out of school in Afghanistan compared to 28% male students.

BRAC has been implementing education programme in Afghanistan since 2002 to remove barriers that prevent children, particularly girls, from receiving education through community focused approaches as well as to improve the quality of education through capacity development initiatives of the stakeholders in the education sector.

The community-based schools have three models:

1. Community based feeder schools (CBFS) which provide education from Grades I to IV within 3 years for children between the ages of 7 to 9 years
2. Community based accelerated learning schools (CBALS) which provide education from Grades I to V within 3 years for girls between the ages of 10 to 19 who have dropped out of, or never attended primary school
3. Pre-primary schools (PPS) which prepare children between the ages of 4 to 5 to ensure enrolment in formal education system.

BRAC school models always follow the government curricula and textbooks; in addition, we provide supplementary reading materials to children.

Community ownership is one of the key successes in changing attitudes towards girls’ education in Afghanistan. We communicate the opportunities and benefits of having schools in villages, strengthening rural communities for operating their own schools, and making local governments more responsive to educational challenges.