Germany to help build engineering college in Balkh

MAZAR-E-SHARIF (Pajhwok): The parliamentary state secretary in Germany’s ministry economic cooperation and development laid the foundation stone for construction of new engineering college in the northern Balkh province.

A statement from the German Cooperation with Afghanistan said on Monday that Thomas Silberhorn was accompanied by Muhammad Zahir Wahdat, the deputy governor of the province, during the inauguration ceremony.

Silberhorn said that the new college was funded by the German government through KfW Development Bank. Wahdat said that “An investment in education is an investment in Afghanistan’s future. This will help us achieve the greatest goal we can reach: our self-sufficiency.”

Silberhorn underlined that the project would help create new prospects for future, especially for young Afghans. He said: “A solid education and vocational training, which is directed towards the needs of the labour market and the needs of the people are the best basis for future generations to contribute to a sustainable development of the country.”

The facility would accommodate 720 students of the faculties of masonry, road construction, railway construction, plumbing and electricity (electricians), the statement added.

The college shares a campus with the Technical Teacher Training Academy (TTTA) and the Agricultural Regional Institute (ARI), recently completed and expected to open their doors this summer. The TTTA will serve as a modern, well-equipped teaching and practical training facility for some 500 vocational teachers in technical/mechanical subjects.

The infrastructure component implemented by KfW Development Bank includes the construction of modern and functional training facilities in Kabul and the six northern provinces of Afghanistan, providing modern equipment and training for the maintenance of these investments.

The institutional and capacity development component implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH supports curricular development and establishment of a certified final examination system, besides several teacher training programmes.

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