Nicholas Kristof Advocates Schools Over Troops in Afghanistan

BRAC is referenced in Nicholas Kristof’s October 28, 2009 New York Times Op-Ed column “More Schools, Not Troops” as a Bangladeshi civil society group that has not only led the charge in Bangladesh for female education and empowerment, but has utilized educated Bangladeshi women to achieve its development goals.

In this column Kristof specifically explores the benefits of investing in education versus military buildup in Afghanistan. He states:

“…there is still vast scope for greater investment in education, health and
agriculture in Afghanistan. These are extraordinarily cheap and have a better
record at stabilizing societies than military solutions, which, in fact, have a
pretty dismal record.”

Since 2002, BRAC has established 3,627 community based schools that currently enroll 94,543 students and have graduated nearly 143,000 students. BRAC has also established 131 Adolescent Reading Centers to provide educational materials and training to over 3,400 adolescent girls after they complete BRAC Afghanistan school courses. Moreover, BRAC trains its own teachers and develops its own teaching materials, which are provided to students free of charge.

In the spirit of the on-going transformation in Bangladesh, BRAC remains committed to working with the Afghan Ministry of Education and other NGOs to continue improving the quality of education and in the process prove that Kristof's plea for schools is a truly effective means for creating change.

Click here to learn more about BRAC's work in Afghanistan.