The Establishment of a TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) College in Kabul in Afghanistan

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This paper is a case study of how a World Bank Sponsored project in Kabul in Afghanistan introduced to the country a wide range of innovative approaches to teaching and learning. This case study shows how deeply ingrained educational practices and philosophies had to be appreciated and then overcome. One of the key milestones of the project was that it was required to secure the accreditation of a European (in our case Finnish) University in terms of the structure and quality of the curriculum, in terms of its teaching and learning practices, teaching materials and assessment practices and systems. The project spanned the period August 2009 to July 2011; and the case study illustrates the steps taken to convert Afghan students into International standard students at an appropriate level. The students, on average, spoke no English on arrival at the college but within their time in Kabul, they learned sufficient English to cope with our innovative methods, as well as learning to read, write, speak and be assessed in English. By the end of our time in Kabul we believe we had created a model of TVET that can be applied throughout Afghanistan and, we further believe, in other countries which are seeking to move with limited resources from teacher centred education to student centred education and training.