For most of us, the thought of growing up without at least a basic education is unfathomable. But for children in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, multiple barriers prevent them from learning including poverty, lack of schools, armed conflict, or decades-old traditions. Central Asia Institute supports children and communities to overcome these obstacles by offering educational programs to students of all ages, from preschool to adult literacy.
Today, an estimated 3.7 million children are out of school in Afghanistan. While progress has been made in gender equity and girls' education in the two decades since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban - which prohibited females from being educated - more than 60 percent of Afghan girls are not in school, while 80 percent of females 15 years of age and older are illiterate. The numbers are even more alarming in Pakistan. An estimated 22.8 million children aged 5-16 are
Increasing access to education for students of all ages is one way the Central Asia Institute is working towards this bright future. Our programs include furnishing students, both girls, and boys, with uniforms and supplies that make schoolwork possible, building and repairing schools, as well as offering community-based education programs when formal schools aren't an option. For students yearning for advanced schooling, we also offer college prep and scholarship programs.
A Gift Today Changes the Future Education is the antidote to ignorance, poverty, and war, and you can be part of the cure. When you donate to Central Asia Institute, your gift builds schools, pays for supplies, funds scholarships, and trains teachers in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. Big or small, every donation counts. And every child in Central Asia deserves the right to an education.
