Many years of war, civil unrest, internal conflict, and the reign of the Taliban have made Afghanistan an unstable nation politically, economically, and socially. About a million children were in school, but hardly any of them were girls. There was no unified curriculum or education.

But the Afghan government and the support of international donors bring changes to the story. Right now, a civil re-construction process has begun and is clearly visible in all sectors. One of the most important elements of the reconstruction progress in Afghanistan is education. There are more than seven million children who are in school, and 2.5 million of them are girls. The numbers of schools increased to 4,500, and 30% of the 170,000 teachers are women.

Technology is helping teachers to expand their methods beyond linear and text-based teaching and offering students new alternatives. Recently Film Annex's Founder/President, Mr. Francesco Rulli, has started a project called The Afghan Development Project with the mission to build Internet classrooms in 40 schools in Afghanistan.

The first school that's being renovated with new computers is Baqnzargah, which is 5 kilometers away from the center of Herat and hosts 4000 students and 100 teachers. This week, we received $15,000 from Film Annex to purchase the computers, IT equipment, and painting supplies to start the construction in Baqnazarqah. The construction is set to be completed in 3 weeks.

The school management appreciates Film Annex's support and financial input for the funding of the Internet classrooms. They said this project will help students and teachers to connect to the world and learn new methods of research and teaching.

Roya Mahboob

Follow me @royamahboob