Education blog

The Country Director of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Monday urged all stakeholders in Afghanistan to take serious action toward improving access to quality, relevant literacy programm in the war-torn country.

“Improving Afghanistan’s literacy rate is a key development goal for the country, which has only 26 percent literacy among over 15-year-olds, and only 12 percent among girls and women over 15 years,” Shigeru Aoyagi told a joint press conference with United Nations Settlements Program (UN Habitat) and Rural Development advisor Sanjay Adhikary here.

He added that the Afghan government’s objective is to reduce illiteracy by 50 percent by 2015.

He also said that UNESCO and UN Habitat programs gave practical support to achieving this goal.

“Everyone in Afghanistan has a role to play and help reduce illiteracy. UNESCO and UN Habitat strongly urge all government ministries, NGOs (Non Governmental Organization), civil society groups and local communities as well as international community to celebrate International Literacy Day’s message of the power of women’s literacy and to continue their commitment towards eradicating illiteracy in the country,” UN Habitat advisor Adhikary said in the same press conference.

He said insecurity, motivation of the learners and quality of the teachers are the main challenges for the process of eradication of illiteracy in the country.

The fundamentalist Taliban regime banned girls’ schools and confined women to houses in Afghanistan during their six-year reign which was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion in 2001.