Program Report ansf literacy Program: The Afghan National Security Forces in the Central & Eastern Provinces of Afghanistan, August 2010-December 2014 United Alliance Global Solutions

Initially, and for several years, the program was conducted using a “continuous” education approach. Soldiers and police were able to attend training according to their wartime duties. If they were called away for periods of time to conduct missions, they returned and resumed their studies with the same instructors, and graduated according to their abilities. Generally, with the central and eastern provinces, over 1,300 literacy classes per month were conducted during the first two years of the program. In February 2013, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) decreased the size of the program, primarily in outlying areas, bringing the size of the program to approximately 800 classes per month. From January 2014 to the conclusion of the program in December 2014, the program was again downsized by NTM-A. Following the last reduction in training, NTM-A required mandatory training hours for all soldiers and police regardless of their individual rates of learning. This was contrary to the conduct of the program for the first couple of years. Given an increase in their security responsibilities with conflicting opportunities to attend training consistently according to a fixed schedule, the ANSF found it challenging to meet mandatory hourly training requirements. As the results demonstrate, the proven method of “continuous” education, allowing soldiers and police to achieve academic results based on individualized learning was highly effective. The latter approach of requiring mandatory training time in a wartime environment often made literacy training inaccessible to many members of the ANSF who were not in a garrison situation. It is important to note, that the decisions to downsize this program was made by NTM-A based on a declining Coalition Forces presence. Both the ANA and ANP continuously requested increases in the scope of training. Additionally, over a two-year period beginning in October 2012, UAGS was told to begin transitioning ANP training to the German-based company GIZ. An arrangement had been made between NTM-A and the German Government to provide literacy training for policemen only.