Japan-funded schools handed over to govt

KABUL (Pajhwok): Twenty-three newly constructed schools and a Justice Department building have been handed over to the Afghan government, the Embassy of Japan announced on Wednesday.

Ambassador Hiroshi Takahashi, Minister of Education Farooq Wardak and senior UN officials attended both ceremonies in Bamyan province. Sibertoo School is one of the 23 schools handed over to Afghan authorities.

The school was reconstructed as a two storey building with 16 classrooms under the ‘Project for Construction of Schools in the Highland Provinces.’ The $25 million project aims at providing 70 school buildings.

A statement from the embassy said the schools would be built in communities where children had little or no access to schools because of geographical remoteness. The project is planned to be completed by December 31, 2015 and is implemented in partnership with Ministry of Education and UNICEF.

Also on Wednesday, the Justice Department building in Bamyan was handed over to local authorities. This building has been constructed in partnership with UNODC under the Project for Criminal Justice Capacity Building.

The cost of the Japan-funded project is $8.6 million. The building will be utilised by the Provincial Justice Department which has the mandate to operate as an alternative dispute resolution organ.

On the occasion, the ambassador said the specific objective behind the project for school construction was to provide access to primary education to about 50,560 children in three provinces.

pr/mud

Visits: 2