AIL was the first non-governmental organization (NGO) to start Women’s Learning Centers (WLCs) in Afghan refugee camps in 2002. Since then

• AIL has helped Afghan communities open over 316 centers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
  
• AIL currently directly supports 35 Women’s Learning Centers or Educational Learning Centers,  where there were none in December of 2001.

Requested by the women  the WLCs are designed to meet the multiple needs of Afghan women and children. WLCs train teachers, provide health education, and offer preschool through university classes.

 

                           

 

Workshops that train women to be leaders and to advocate for their basic human rights are offered in the WLCs. Women also learn income generating skills like sewing and carpet weaving.

AIL served 18,000 students through its Women’s Learning Centers in year 2006.  

In response to these needs, WLCs offer women and girls Fast Track classes.

The Fast Track Continuing Education program offers literacy and enrichment classes, in which women and older girls learn to read, write, and do basic arithmetic.

The Fast Track Mainstream program allows older girls to finish grades 1-3 in one year, so that they can then enter regular school in the fourth grade.

The Fast Track Certificate program allows older and married girls or women to continue their studies on an individualized basis with the goal of ultimately earning a 6th, 9th, or 12th grade certificate. Enrichment classes including English and Computers are also taught. AIL has computer labs in Kabul, Herat, and Peshawar.

Additionally, basic health services are available through the WLCs, including medical examinations, midwifery and nursing services, vaccinations, and health education about hygiene and the proper use of medicine. AIL has also begun training traditional birth attendants to assist women during birth.

When the first WLCs opened in Pakistan and began providing education and health services, word about the success of the programs spread quickly. Soon, AIL was showered with requests from other communities for their own WLCs. WLCs have now been opened in Kabul, Herat, Parwan, Balkh and Bamiyan, Afghanistan, at the request of these communities.

 

                           

One of the striking impacts of AIL’s work with Women’s Learning Centers is that this model of providing health and educational services to women has been successfully expanded to hard-to-reach rural areas in provincial Kabul and Herat (e.g. Sar Asia and Mir Bacha Kot) at the request of those communities.