Handicap International experience in Afghanistan - CBM
Handicap International experience in Afghanistan - CBM
Handicap International experience in Afghanistan - CBM
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to take this <strong>in</strong>to consideration when <strong>in</strong>stitut<strong>in</strong>g measures regard<strong>in</strong>g the education of children with these formsof disability. At present, the rare cases when they receive appropriate education is when there are schools,often run by NGOs that have specialised teachers, methods and materials. But these opportunities are veryfew and ma<strong>in</strong>ly located <strong>in</strong> large cities. Moreover, these structures are costly and very difficult to set up andsusta<strong>in</strong> due to lack of adequate human resources. In the long run, the only susta<strong>in</strong>able solution is tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g ofteachers to <strong>in</strong>clude children with disability <strong>in</strong> the ma<strong>in</strong>stream.Effectiveness of Education: LiteracyLiteracy rates are the proportion of persons who are literate <strong>in</strong> the overall population. However, <strong>in</strong> differentcountries, the means of assess<strong>in</strong>g literacy vary from self-report<strong>in</strong>g, to merely writ<strong>in</strong>g your own name. Thisoften results <strong>in</strong> overestimation of the literacy rates and a lack of comparability. The latest “Education for AllGlobal Monitor<strong>in</strong>g Report 2006: Literacy for Life” states that the global literacy rate is 81.9% (76.4% fordevelop<strong>in</strong>g countries and over 98% for developed and transition countries) 29 . The literacy rates for the NDSA,as <strong>in</strong> other surveys carried out <strong>in</strong> <strong>Afghanistan</strong>, are based on household data. All <strong>in</strong>terviewees who were overthe age of 8 were asked whether they knew how to read and write. If the answer was YES, then he/she wasasked to write down a short sentence that was presented by the surveyor 30 . If the <strong>in</strong>terviewee was able towrite the sentences without much hesitation and completely then he/she was considered to be literate by thesurveyor who wrote down his/her own answer.When childrendo access toschool andcompleteprimaryeducation,theyeffectivelylearn howto read andwriteTable 7: Literacy Rates: Compar<strong>in</strong>g Various Household SurveysSourcesYear ofSurveyOverallAverageAverage forFemalesAverage forMalesMICS(Persons over age 15) 31 2003 22.2% 8.1% 36.1%NRVA (Persons over age 6) 32 2003 23.7% 10.3% 36.9%NDSA (Persons over age 7) 2005 27.2% 15.1% 36.1%There seems to be consistency between the various surveys that have been carried out <strong>in</strong> <strong>Afghanistan</strong>. TheNRVA and the MICS present slightly lower rates than the NDSA. When children do access to school andcomplete primary education, they effectively learn how to read and write. This may be a reflection of theefforts that have been made <strong>in</strong> the field of education, especially over recent years. But, the gap betweenpersons with disability and non-disabled rema<strong>in</strong>s a reality.Figure 30: Literacy Rates Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Age ofDisability and Gender for Persons who AccessedPublic School1009080706050403020100Disabled BeforeAge 7Disabled BetweenBefore Ages 7 and 14Disabled After14• Literacy for Females• Literacy for MalesNon-Disabled29There is no data for <strong>Afghanistan</strong> regard<strong>in</strong>g these rates <strong>in</strong> the GMR 2006.30The sentence that <strong>in</strong>terviewees had to write down was adapted to their age.31Multi Indicator Cluster Survey, 2003, op. cit.32M<strong>in</strong>istry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Vulnerability Analysis Unit (2004), op. cit.40 Understand<strong>in</strong>g the Challenge Ahead