Radio-based Teacher Training in Response to Acute Educational Needs in Afghanistan

Following the toppling of the Taliban regime and the restoration of a semblance of peace to much of Afghanistan after 25 years of war, the demand for education by Afghans is second only to their desire for security. In response, USAID has funded the Afghan Primary Education Programme (APEP), headed by Creative Associates International, to distribute textbooks, set up an accelerated learning programme for those who missed schooling, and train teachers through radio programming - radio-based teacher training (RTT). Following a successful pilot phase, 30 minutes of programming in two local languages has been broadcast daily since May 2004. With RTT, the radio is the teacher, not a teaching aid as in traditional distance education.

This presentation examines how this challenge has been tackled by Media Support Solutions, a Scottish-based development communications NGO, and assesses initial evaluation results. This concept of helping to train teachers through radio programmes has been predicated on the known loyalty of Afghans to short-wave radio listening, encapsulated in the often repeated saying, "Afghans pray five times daily to Allah, and once to the BBC." Recent surveys indicate that between 60% and 70% of Afghans continue to listen to radio regularly. Surveys from the past 10 years of the BBC Radio soap opera 'New Home, New Life', also show that Afghan listeners have a remarkable ability to remember what they have heard.

MSS’s RTT programmes test the loyalty of Afghan radio listeners to a new level. To benefit, some 80,000 - 100,000 teachers (plus many parents) have to listen daily, remember key educational points (KEPs), and put them into practice in the classroom - all with no interpersonal reinforcement. The objective is an observable shift from rote to child-centred learning practices. At the end of a year, teachers will be entitled to course certification through a procedure of assessment and testing. But to succeed, programmes have to tackle the real constraints faced by Afghan teachers: coping with classes of 60 or more, lack of equipment, and inadequate buildings.

Gordon Adam focused on programme content and presentation; understanding and reflecting classroom problems; topic selection issues from changing syllabi for Grades 1 - 6 and from general teaching methodologies; the creation of key educational points (KEPs) and sequencing them so as not to overload listeners; the use of drama, oral testimony and interviews to create an effective entertainment-education mix; creating partnerships within APEP, the Ministry of Education, and amongst local and international broadcasters to ensure the programmes are widely available; tracking impact on classroom practice of KEPs through a combination of testing, surveys and observation; and assessing whether RTT is a model which can be implemented elsewhere.

Editor's note: Gordon Adam indicates that an evaluation report, which provides an update on this initiative, is available and may be requested via email.