OVERVIEW

The GPE program is led by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to help the Government of Afghanistan achieve its national “Education for All” goals.

USAID provided a grant to the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund to implement GPE. The activity ensures that the MoE carries forward key activities related to Community-Based Education (CBE) and Accelerated Learning Programs (ALPs) in Afghanistan.

The GPE program targets 40 districts in 13 provinces that are characterized by challenges such as remote location, or insecurity. The goals of the GPE are to strengthen community activism and local governance, expand access to education through community-based education, and increase the number of qualified female teachers in areas with high gender disparities.

The second phase of the GPE will be merged with the World Bank multi-donor trust fund education program, which is scheduled to start in January 2019 as the new Education Quality Reform in Afghanistan (EQRA) program. USAID is working to facilitate the smooth integration of GPE with EQRA.

ACTIVITIES

• Provide operational support to the MoE to develop and update its operational rolling plan and monitoring framework for the GPE program.
• Provide operational support and ensure oversight to strengthen reporting and monitoring mechanisms at district, provincial and national levels.
• Engage external auditing to perform the fiduciary monitoring.
• Strengthen community social mobilization and governance systems at the local level.
• Expand and reinforce multiple pathways to education.
• Increase the number of qualified female teachers in areas with high gender disparities.
• Support 16,000 boys and girls to attend CBE and ALP classes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Provided technical assistance to the GPE at national and sub-national levels.
• Assisted the MoE with amending and improving the operational plan and budget.
• Facilitated and assisted the MoE/GPE Program Coordination Unit with developing a revised operational plan.
• Conducted field monitoring and brought the main challenges to the attention of MoE officials.
• Provided support to 16,000 CBE and ALP students.
• Provided technical support to 226 female teachers to improve capacity.