Afghanistan to get $157m for out of school children

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Afghanistan will receive $ 157 million in aid under an agreement signed for providing education to 3.7 million out of school children.

The agreement was signed between representatives of the Swedish Committee and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Kabul.

Education Minister Mirwais Balkhi on the occasion said 3.7 million children in Afghanistan were deprived of going to school, with girls making 60 percent of them and calling the statistics as shocking. He said the $157 million aid from the Swedish Committee would be used to provide education to children away from school. He said according to the Ministry of Education plan, no child would remain out of school until 2030 end.

Also present on the occasion was Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdullah Abdullah said the program should be implemented because Afghanistan was still in a state of war and affected by natural disasters.

In his words, the achievements in the field of education are not small and the challenge of teaching is still there and added private schools should be taken into account in education.

Education Cannot Wait Director Yasmine Sherif said through this program would support 500,000 girls and boys for three years in resuming their education.

“Our focus is vulnerable children from wars, migrations and natural and abnormal conditions, such as droughts and floods, which have forced children to leave school,” Sherif said. (Pajhwok)