Trends surrounding educational aid to Afghanistan

July, 2002
Ministry of Education Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

.   Background

1.	November 30, 2001: MEXT established an internal "project team for educational assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan" under the leadership of Senior Vice Minister Fumio Kishida. First meeting (December 4, 2001) -- Eighth meeting (June 5, 2002)
2.	Support (approximately 60% of total project costs covered out of government contributions and private donations) for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Back-to-School campaign (project for the provision of teaching materials and school supplies, teacher orientation, etc. to enable upwards of 1.5 million children to return to school at the beginning of the new school year on March 23)
3.	January 21 and 22, 2002: The International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance To Afghanistan (1) The Afghan Interim Authority identified the following several key priority areas for the reconstruction of their country: Enhancement of administrative capacity, education (especially for girls), health care and sanitation, infrastructure, reconstruction of the economic system, agriculture, and rural development (2) Japan expresses its willingness to supply support totaling USD 500 million over the course of 2.5 years (including USD 250 million in 2002) to be spent primarily on the clearance of landmines and unexploded bombs, reconstruction of regional communities, education, media infrastructure, health care and medical treatment, and improving the status of women
4.	March 23: Afghan schools reopened
5.	April 7-18: Education expert (Professor Seiji Utsumi of Osaka University) dispatched for the first time to take part in the Second Afghanistan Support Research Group
6.	April 16-19: Visit of the Afghan Interim Administration's Minister of Education Rasoul Amin to Japan (1) In talks with Education Minister Amin, Education Minister Atsuko Toyama outlined the aid proposals devised by Japan for the moment as follows: Dispatch of educational specialists, female teacher training by Japanese women's universities (*), anti-illiteracy education support via UNESCO, the Afghan Kids Education Support Project (school donations) implemented by NGOs with the cooperation of MEXT (*) Consortium comprising Ochanomizu University, Tsuda College, Tokyo Women's Christian University, Nara Women's University, and Japan Women's University (2) In response, Education Minister Amin observed that the aid measures proposed by Education Minister Toyama made a great deal of sense and that he would like Japan to go ahead with them immediately. He was particularly keen that the first proposal to send an education expert to advise on the drafting and assessment of an education program and the second proposal to set up and run a teacher training college (Teacher Training Center) should go ahead as soon as possible. He also called for exchanges between Japanese and Afghan children.
7.	May 14 through June 2: Dispatch of education experts (Professor Seiji Utsumi of Osaka University and Mr. Fujio Ohmori, Inspector of Higher Education Bureau of MEXT)   The experts were sent to the Education Ministry to help draft an education policy for Afghanistan, to exchange views with Education Minister Amin and senior administrators, to inspect educational establishments such as schools and universities, and to exchange information with international agencies, NGOs, and the like.
8.	May 19-21: Visit to Afghanistan of a party led by Senior Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Fumio Kishida (1) In addition to holding talks with the leader of the Afghan Interim Administration Hamid Karzai and Education Minister Amin among others, the party inspected a number of institutions including elementary and middle schools, teacher training colleges, and Kabul University. (2) During talks with Education Minister Amin, Senior Vice Minister Kishida reported on the progress made with the program of support measures proposed by Education Minister Atsuko Toyama in April. In talks with President Karzai, he also proposed a program of cooperation on the higher educational level including cooperation between Kabul University and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, and the acceptance of students from Afghanistan. (3) The Afghan side thanked Japan for dispatching education experts and asked for help in female teacher training, higher education, and the like.

.   Patterns of educational support from here on

1.	It is fervently hoped by those with an interest in Afghan education that educational support will emphasize the rebuilding of a robust public education system that is not reliant on NGOs and international agencies.
2.	To this end, the most pressing tasks are to rebuild the education administration system, to improve the education environment in schools, to rebuild the teacher training system, and to restore higher education.
3.	When providing support, it is important to ensure that consistency is maintained between the provision of material and of intellectual support. Japan is therefore planning to strengthen its relations with other interested organizations such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, for the time being, to deal with the most important of the requirements outlined above by dispatching education experts to Afghanistan, inviting Afghans to train in Japan, and pressing ahead with cooperation between universities (accepting Afghan students and researchers, for example).