Research
NYU Releases Education Baseline Report
Mar. 7, 2016
The Assessment of Learning Outcomes and Social Effects of Community-Based Education (ALSE) Research Project at New York University has released its report on the results of its baseline survey. Report highlights include the growing access to education in rural Afghanistan, factors influencing attendance rates in these villages, and the high demand for children’s education. Furthermore, learning assessments conducted with school-aged children provide context for understanding the factors influencing children’s learning performance.
Fieldwork was implemented by ACSOR Surveys in collaboration with D3 Systems. Data collection in 129 villages in the provinces of Bamiyan, Daykundi, Ghor, Herat, Parwan, and Kapisa was conducted in the summer and fall of 2014.
The report concludes that availability of schools, and not any lack of interest in education on the part of parents, is the most important factor in explaining school attendance rates in the provinces surveyed in the evaluation. The most important factor identified in determining school attendance is having a school located within reasonable walking distance of the home. These findings suggest that what is needed to achieve universal access to schools in Afghanistan is to expand the supply of schools.
The report can be read and downloaded here. For more information, please visit the ALSE website.