01
Adolescent literacy
Understanding the education gap
According to a World Bank study, only 37% of adolescent girls in Afghanistan are literate, compared with 66% of adolescent boys. Women have a literacy rate of 19%, whereas men have a literacy rate of 49%.
Literacy at a glance
A persistent gender divide
The available data tells a consistent story: girls and women have historically faced substantially greater barriers to literacy and education than boys and men.
02
Adult literacy
Women and men
Context: Education and demographic figures for Afghanistan vary considerably between sources and reporting periods. The figures shown here should be understood within that wider data-quality challenge.
School enrolment
Even the basic numbers are difficult to establish
In Afghanistan, statistics on the number of children in and out of school vary widely and remain subject to debate.
Statistics of almost every kind — including basic demographic data — have frequently been difficult to collect and verify. Different institutions, reporting methods and definitions have produced substantially different estimates.
6 millionIn December 2016, Afghanistan's Minister of Education said the actual number of children enrolled in school was approximately six million.
Female education
Official enrolment figures tell only part of the story
According to a Ministry of Education official who spoke to Human Rights Watch in April 2017, 9.3 million children were recorded as being in school, with girls accounting for 39% of the total.
Those figures also require context. At the time, the government's practice was to continue counting a child as attending school until the child had been absent for as long as three years. This could significantly inflate reported enrolment.
39%
of the officially reported student population was female.
Progress against the odds
Demand for education has remained strong
Even the most optimistic historical data suggests that the proportion of Afghan girls participating in education never rose substantially beyond half of the eligible population.
Despite enormous obstacles, Afghan women and girls made significant educational progress. This happened even while the education system itself offered fewer schools for girls and often failed to take the measures necessary to close the gender gap in participation.
Their participation demonstrates a strong desire to learn and underlines why finding new routes to education remains so important.
01
Access
Too few schools, especially for girls, can make education physically inaccessible.
02
Poverty
The direct and indirect cost of education can prevent children and adults from continuing their studies.
03
Instability
Political and social instability can interrupt education and weaken already limited infrastructure.
04
Gender inequality
Girls and women continue to experience educational barriers that boys and men do not face to the same degree.
Digital literacy
Technology can create another path to learning
As digital literacy becomes increasingly important worldwide, the Internet offers new possibilities for overcoming physical and geographic barriers to education.
Internet-based learning can allow students to gain access to educational materials even when conventional schools, teachers or learning infrastructure are difficult to reach.
For a developing country such as Afghanistan, modern technologies can also help reduce the cost of expanding access to education for children and adults who have never had the opportunity to learn.
Opportunity
Learning beyond the classroom
A way forward
Using the Internet to expand girls' education
Contemporary technologies, especially the Internet, create possibilities for overcoming geographical barriers and reducing some of the costs associated with education.
In Afghanistan, these technologies have the potential to support students with limited economic resources, poor educational infrastructure and uncertain access to traditional classrooms.
One focus of our work is exploring and applying innovative approaches such as open and distance education, while helping girls develop the skills required to use modern technology confidently.
Finding new ways to make education available to everyone is essential to overcoming challenges created by poverty, limited infrastructure and the social barriers that continue to restrict educational opportunity.
Explore our education workEducation creates possibility