December 2015—Modern private schools demand modern curricula and skilled teachers. As Afghan refugees returned home from Pakistan and Iran post-2001, they created a demand for high-quality private education like they had seen abroad.

Today, according to Ministry of Education data, 666 private primary, secondary and high school institutions are educating a reported 200,000 Afghan girls and boys, mostly in the major cities. They offer additional curricula options, like English language and computer coursework, not available in the 14,000 public schools.

With support from USAID’s Afghanistan Workforce Development Program, NGO Green Wish for Afghanistan Educational and Service Organization provides training to women seeking employment or promotion in private sector schools. From April to August of this year, Green Wish provided training for about 20 private schools in Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat and Kabul cities. The schools value teachers who use student-centered teaching methods.

Sima Sajadi, a 25-year-old high school teacher, attended a training in Kabul in April on best teaching methods. Twenty-two private school teachers, both employed and those searching for work, attended the training. The teachers study active, practical teaching methods like role-playing, discussion groups, brainstorming and networking.

Sajadi said she learned “different methods on a daily basis” throughout the training and applied what she learned the following day.

“They [the teachers] have learned different ways to focus on students and change their work to student-centered from traditionally teacher-centered,” said Nasor Hassani, a Green Wish trainer.

Many of Sajadi’s students have returned from neighboring Pakistan and Iran. She uses different activities like games to draw in even the most unengaged students to keep them active and interested in lessons. Many of her new methods came from brainstorming sessions with the other teachers at the training.

The Afghanistan Workforce Development Program has trained over 24,000 Afghans, 36 percent of whom are women. The program, which runs from April 2012 to April 2016, has helped 14,681 skilled workers like Sajadi find new jobs or get promoted within their current job.

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