The Impact of Investing in Early Childhood Development in Afghanistan

The Aga Khan Foundation and its sister agency, Aga Khan Education Services, in partnership with the Afghanistan Government and Dubai Cares, have supported the provision of quality community-based preschooling in northern Afghanistan. Our programming is holistic in nature – collaborating with parents, community members and teachers to provide critical support for ensuring every child has a successful start to life. In order to better understand the impact of our programming in early childhood education, we conducted an independent, evaluative study about the impact of ECD on students’ levels of school readiness and learning in Bamyan and Baghlan provinces at the end of 2014 –the first research of its kind in Afghanistan.