Godah Girls' Primary School
Primary and Secondary Education Development Project
Godah (Wardak Province), Afghanistan
Start Date: March 2004 - In partnership with Omaid Foundation (Kabul-based NGO)
Purpose: Establish the first -ever girls' primary school in Godah, Wardak. (Individual donor support)
Enrollment: 300 girls
Status: The Ministry of Planning has approved the technical plan for the construction of a the new facility to be funded by Japanese Government.
History and Overview
In the Afghanistan of the mid-seventies, over one million students were enrolled in secular schools that employed more than 53,000 teachers. After 23 years of war and repressive regimes, the educational system in Afghanistan requires significant investment. An entire generation has had little or no schooling. Only 47% of adult males over the age of 15 are literate; that figure sinks to 15% for adult women. Ninety percent of Afghanistan's teachers have been forced to seek other jobs or to leave the labor force entirely. The few educational materials available are of poor quality and outdated. During the Soviet war, the curriculum was geared toward the war effort; later, the strict Taliban regime limited education to memorization of the Holy Qur'an for boys and banned girls from school altogether. The demand for education in Afghanistan is great and must be met quickly.
To meet this need, US-ARC has partnered with the Omaid Foundation to help establish the first ever girls' school in Godah, Wardak Province, with the overwhelming support of the Shura (village council). This undertaking (which will take an estimated four years) involves the creation of a school from the ground up, with the community's participation.
Project Identification
After the successful "Afghanistan Day" fundraising event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on May 26, 2002, US-ARC raised US$7,000 that was earmarked for educational development in Afghanistan. In 2003, the Council was approached by the Omaid Foundation, an Afghanistan-based NGO, to support its efforts in establishing a school in Godah. The Omaid Foundation had completed the preliminary groundwork of identifying a community in Afghanistan that would fully support a girls-only school. With consensus from US-ARC, the small village of Godah was designated as the project site.
Godah, located southeast of Kabul, is primarily comprised of returning farmer refugees. Many of the men there fought the Russians during the war of the 1980s, while others survived living in the camps in Peshawar, Pakistan. As refugees, many of the men were exposed to a life outside of farming. They began to understand and appreciate the value of a good education and its effect on community development. Schooling for both boys and girls became especially important to them. In addition, the refugees recognized that the girls and women of their community were vital contributors to a prosperous village.
Project Development
US-ARC, understanding its responsibility to future generations of Afghans, undertook its first project in the education sector with the girls' school in Godah.
In gathering information about the educational system in the village, or lack thereof, US-ARC discovered that the girls of Godah were studying under a tree, in an unsheltered setting. They were being taught by male teachers, many of whom have an eighth-grade education. A majority of the families in the village did not feel comfortable that their girls were being taught be male teachers.
In addition, the school did not have adequate textbooks and the curriculum solely involved learning the Qur'an, Dari reading and writing, and mathematics. The students did not have enough notebooks to write on and pens and pencils to write with.
Project Implementation
In the preliminary stages of this project and prior to US-ARC's first site visit to Godah, Interim Executive Director Omar Hadi purchased 5 tents, 180 chairs with side table tops, and school supplies that was later donated to the village. Mr. Hadi also deposited US$6,200 for teacher salaries (taken from funds donated by the public in the Afghanistan Day event). In Godah, US-ARC, along with members of the community, erected the tents, placed the chairs inside of them, and distributed school supply packets to each child. This sheltered facility is a temporary school for the children, who until then had been sitting outside for classes. (See pictures below.)
The Council later met with members of the Shura, and reaffirmed their commitment for the eventual creation of a fully built girls schools in their village. The Council reassured the Shura that the school would be protected, considering recent incidents of school fires set by members of the ousted Taliban regime.
The Shura unanimously agreed that it wanted the school to eventually function from grades one through 12. In reaffirming its commitment to this project, the Shura generously donated one hectare or 10,000 m² of land upon which the school would be built. In addressing the lack of qualified teachers, the Omaid Foundation proposed that teachers who are living as refugees in Pakistan could relocate to Godah and teach classes there. In exchange, the Godah community said it could offer them housing for their families.
Funding must also be secured from the international donor community to build the final school structure. So far, the Japanese government has expressed interest in working with US-ARC; the Council is developing an infrastructure proposal for their review and approval.
Budgeting
To date, US-ARC has spent US$7,000 for the Godah education project, but is in need of an additional US$75,000 for the first year of development. The Council will need to enroll teachers in training facilities in Kabul to either refresh their knowledge or to be instructed in professional teaching.
In Godah , US-ARC plans on purchasing a van or bus to shorten the commute of some of the school girls in the village. For the classroom, the Council will purchase textbooks or have them photocopied so that all the students have study material. US-ARC will eventually hire an education expert to work with community members to design a secular curriculum that is acceptable to them and the Afghan Ministry of Education. The Godah project is estimated to be completed in four years, or until the new and fully constructed school can become self-sufficient.
The estimate to build a proper school made of rock in that region is approximately US$220,000.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Staff members from both US-ARC and the Omaid Foundation will make regular field trips to Godah to monitor and develop this project. The Council and Foundation will be assessing the progress of the teachers and students. The school will be registered with the Ministry of Education and, hopefully one day, receive financial support from the Afghan national government. US-ARC will continue to fundraise in the United States and send money on an incremental basis to spend toward priority needs, such as teacher salaries. The Council will closely work with the Omaid Foundation to ensure the success of the project.
Conclusion
A self-sustaining school is one that can continue to operate after the life of this project is complete. The Godah community must continue to participate in the development and progress of the school. It is expected to pay a nominal fee to have the children attend the educational facility; this fee will off-set any spending gaps the government might encounter. Some of the community members will assist in building the school structure and must maintain it when necessary, so as to not rely on the district government for assistance. The faculty will be comprised primarily of qualified women and will be paid a suitable wage. This endeavor will become a model project for US-ARC and can be replicated in other regions of Afghanistan.
Pictures of the Godah students:
  
The students in their newly erected classrooms:
  
  
The village of Godah:
 
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