USAID Press Release: USAID Funded Teacher Training College in Kabul Completed

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U.S. Agency for International Development Funded Teacher Training College in Kabul Completed

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-4320

2002-119

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2002

Contact: USAID Press Office

Kabul, Afghanistan - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with the government of Afghanistan, held a ceremony on October 3, 2002, marking the completion of the USAID-funded rehabilitation project for the Teacher Training College in Kabul.

U.S. Ambassador Robert P. Finn, USAID Deputy Administrator Frederick W. Schieck, USAID Afghanistan Mission Director Craig Buck, International Organization for Migration Chief of Mission, Enrico Ponziani, Deputy Minister of Education, Sayed Mohammad Mangal, and Head of the Teacher Training Department of the Ministry of Education, Dr. Nadir all attended the ceremony.

Deputy Minister Mangal stated during the ceremony, "this used to be a place of rockets and bombs, and now it is a place of learning and books."

USAID Deputy Administrater Schieck said "the United States understands the great desire in Afghanistan to educate the people…and Americans have a deep commitment to supporting this goal."

The main classroom building was repaired and equipped with approximately $100,000 in USAID funding. Work on the college benefited 265 local Afghan laborers for several months. Supplementing these efforts, the college's experimental primary school and women's dormitory are also being rehabilitated.

The neighborhood where the college is located, known as West Kabul, is one of the most devastated parts of Afghanistan. This area became the scene of fighting between former Mujahadeen factions starting in 1992. During the fighting, many of Afghanistan's premier higher educational facilities were damaged or destroyed - among them Kabul University, an institution with substantial public and private American assistance. Directly across the street from the main Kabul University Campus, the Ministry of Education maintained a Teachers Training College, one of twelve in the country. The campus of the Teachers' Training College was severely damaged by the fighting, and the buildings left in ruins. With the help of USAID, the college once again is a place of learning.

USAID, IOM, the Ministry of Education, and other partners including UNICEF, UNESCO, and the Japanese government, are working to promote the rehabilitation of the remainder of the campus including the laboratories, men's dormitory, and administration building. USAID is also working with the Ministry of Education and the Municipality to restore power and water to the facility.

USAID, in collaboration with the Afghan government, is now considering additional Teacher Training College rehabilitation in the north, west, east, and south of the country. Taken together, these projects will allow substantial improvements in Afghanistan's critical educational sector, identified by President Karzai as the country's single leading priority.

For more information on USAID's activities in Afghanistan, please visit www.usaid.gov/afghanistan.
U.S. Agency for International Development is the government agency that has provided humanitarian assistance and economic development worldwide for more than 40 years.

Last Updated on: December 30, 2008