Education Compromised? A Survey of Schools in 10 Provinces of Afghanistan

Despite having more than 3.5 million1 children who remain out of school, Afghanistan has made great strides in in the educational sector. The number of students in school increased from around 1 million in 2001 to more than 9 million in 2015 (39% of whom are girls).2 This is a commendable achievement in a country where delivery of basic public goods and services has been tremendously complicated by over three decades of armed conflict. However, there remains a lot of ground to cover to ensure access to quality education for all in the country. These challenges include security concerns, insufficient and low-quality school buildings, limited access to water and sanitation, the limited availability of qualified teachers (especially female teachers), insufficient learning materials, and corruption and mismanagement of resources.