KABUL (PAN): New buildings for nine schools will be constructed in Takhar and Badakhshan provinces, and a teacher training college in Kunduz, officials said on Tuesday.

A $3m contract for the projects was signed between Deputy Minister of Education Mohammad Sadiq Patman and Zinat Griwal, the director of the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development of (ACTED).

The projects will be implemented in a year by the French organisation, which has constructing school buildings, digging wells and asphalting roads in Afghanistan.

About 5,000 school students and 500 trainee teachers would benefit from the German-funded projects, Patman told reporters after the signing ceremony.

mm/mud