StayIN – Education is here to stay!

Afghanistan is Very Far Away

by Tarik Vardag

Maybe some of you felt the same way when reading about the World Happiness Report. The report is produced annually by scientists in the USA based on research by the Gallup Institute, and at first glance, it is an interesting fun fact. This year, the Scandinavian countries are again on top of the happiness scale – no surprise. In addition to statistical data, the report assesses answers to questions ranging from economic performance, life expectancy and health, stability of social relationships, and corruption to emotions such as joy or sadness. According to the current study, people in Afghanistan are the most unhappy people in the world. This affected me deeply, and it made me angry as well. 

From 2001 to 2021, more than one billion US dollars flowed into Afghanistan from the USA alone. Yet, it has not been possible to develop a sustainable infrastructure – on the contrary, the money contributed to making Afghanistan one of the most corrupt states in the world. On Transparency International’s list, Afghanistan ranks 174th out of 180 countries.Since the withdrawal of NATO troops, Afghanistan seems to have disappeared entirely from the view of the Western countries – the focus has changed, Afghanistan is very far away!

What does Afghanistan have to do with StayIN? The goal of StayIN is to make success in the education of young students from difficult starting positions independent of their family background. StayIN developed a digital education infrastructure in the form of an App for this purpose. StayIN is a team of committed people active in IT, industry, NGOs, and education with a shared vision of a society that provides fair development opportunities to all – not a few of them have Afghan roots. A group within StayIN aims to establish a vocational training system based on the German model but adapted to the local needs of Afghans. As an e-learning platform for individual support, the existing App will be adjusted. The aim is to initiate industrial and economic reconstruction and development in Afghanistan and to prevent educated people from leaving the country. Where do we stand with this project? We have established a strong network with local companies in Afghanistan and selected supporters. At the moment, we are researching which training occupations are most needed in Afghanistan, with which local companies we can build up the training concept and how to organize the support from Germany. We aim to develop this concept for Afghanistan in a self-sustaining manner and later transfer it to other countries.

Photo by Lara Jameson

Originally posted 2024-03-16 14:00:19.