Fast Track Education for Afghan Women and Girls

Fast track literacy classes help women advance quickly courses of study. Some women have more time available for classes while others have to take a course more slowly due to family commitments.

Literacy is very popular with 1,037 students studying literacy in AIL centers in June.  Other students who are unable to get to class take advantage of education offered through Radio Meraj and AIL’s Meraj Academy. The latter is provided on TV Meraj with a daily, televised high school curriculum for grades 7-12. A mobile literacy class is running currently. This class takes students to 4^th reading level in 4 months.

"Aqeela said, I am a woman who lost the chance of being educated when I was a teen. I am so happy for having the chance to take part in this class. I heard good things about the class and this persuaded me to come here and participate. In the past 4 months I learned to be a new person educated in reading and writing. Moreover, I learned to be a skillful woman who is able to change the rest of her life. 

In June, there were 975 sewing students at AIL Learning Centers across 11 provinces of Afghanistan. AIL also offers carpet weaving, embroidery and nut weaving all of which are traditional Afghan crafts.

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Fast track literacy classes help women advance quickly through literacy learning in step with their ability and available study time. Many women have childcare and family responsibilities and so have to take more time to complete a literacy level. There are those who advance through the 8 levels of literacy offered at greater speed than the average learner and benefit from the fast-track program. Recently, 60 women graduated from the fast-track mobile phone literacy course. Most students reach a 4^th grade reading level within the 4 months of the specialized course of literacy learning.

Learning to sew changes a woman’s life giving her independence, self-confidence and self-esteem as well as an income generating skill.  This class is also available as a fast-track option. So far in 2023:  1,034 students have learned sewing at Herat centers and another 240 at Kabul centers. 

Fast-tracking education classes helps those who are doing well to progress at their own pace and complete courses earlier than other students. Thank you for your support for our education initiatives.

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One of the fast- track classes offered at learning centers is literacy. AIL has 8 levels of literacy class and mobile literacy.  In one month, there were 681 literacy students in Herat centers and 179 at Kabul centers with an additional 130 students in Mobile Literacy Class.

Other fast-track classes include sewing and in one month Herat had 1,245 sewing students and in Kabul centers there were 270 students.

Computing classes can also be fast-tracked for the ablest students. In Kabul in one month there were 301 students and in Herat 138 including, 61 female.

A couple of months ago the staff were delighted to attend the graduation ceremony for the computer class at one of the Daikundi Province learning centers.  The manager said, “One hundred students received their certificates of achievement and all were very appreciative of the through grounding in computing skills that they had received. AIL started this center 10 years ago and thousands of students have graduated from it with a range of employable skills.”

One student said, “Students are happy to learn computing and most have gained practical work skills in computing. My classmate does computer printing works in the city of Nili of the province and is paid enough that he supports himself and helps his elderly father.”

Fast-tracking education classes helps those who are doing well to progress at their own pace and complete courses earlier than other students.

Thank you for your support for our education initiatives.

AIL tailors its programs to the needs of participants, so for those women who can learn quickly or have more time to apply to their studies, there is the fast-track option. Education classes have fast track options such as sewing, English, and computing.

AIL also puts on workshops on a variety of subjects such as reproductive health, leadership, good governance and first aid. Some of these workshops are in depth and go on for 5 days such as the full reproductive health workshop. A fast option is the Expectant Mother Workshop which condenses information into one 3- hour session providing information to mothers and their caregivers about pregnancy, birth and newborn care.

Recently, a first aid course was held for 80 students at the Yacoobi High School. The course was adapted to fit with the students’ timetables and covered a lot of subjects including: basic principles of first aid, first for wounds, shock, burns, head, neck and eye injuries, bones, muscles and joints and CPR, what to do for intoxication, strokes, electric shock, drowning, animal bits, control of infection, street safety, blood donations, and burying dead bodies.  The students now feel able to work as volunteer health workers.

Thank you for your support.

Tailoring and sewing skills are a lifeline for women giving them the opportunity to earn some money and contribute to the family income. Some women and girls are able to accelerate their learning of this craft and so follow the fast-track route. Literacy is another fast-track course which again is a life-changing skill and more able students are able to progress at their own rate.

Most of AIL’s Learning Centers offer sewing including, our newly opened center at Zamanian in the Herat area. This center is focused on 5 areas: Languages, Sciences, Computing, Arts and Skills such as sewing. This shows that centers cater to a wide range of student needs from academic to income-generating skills and basic education such as reading and writing along with accelerated learning options in fast-track study.

Mastering sewing skills gives women confidence in their abilities, purpose, respect within the family and community and raises their self-esteem.

Here is Hafiza’s story, “I live near Kabul. When I first came to the center I knew nothing about sewing. I was not sure I could learn how to sew. The teacher and my family encouraged me and I worked hard at it. Now I am able to sew any kind of clothing and I am also able to teach other women how to this craft. I have my own tailoring shop in my community. I sew clothes, teach women and earn money from this for the family.” 

The 2021 Sakena Fund annual report is attached and we hope you find it interesting.

• Annual_Report_2021_compressed.pdf (PDF)