CAMP SHAHEEN, Afghanistan - Afghan national army 209th Corps is taking steps to educate their soldiers and increase the literacy rates in Afghanistan.
Through a voluntary literacy program available to basic trainees, soldiers are taught how to read and write in their native languages of Dari and Pashto.
Benefits of training soldiers basic literacy skills won't benefit just the army but the country as a whole.
"When I joined the Army, I didn't know anything and now I can write a letter or read paperwork," said Khan Rasool, Afghan soldier. "It is a great chance for us to learn during our service for the government, and after that I can return to my village and help my people."
According to the Central Statistics Office, more than 60 percent of men and 90 percent of women in rural Afghanistan are illiterate. Despite many years of struggle that prevented men and women from becoming educated, soldiers joining the country's army show they are willing to be taught and increase the ANA's literacy rates.
"After three decades of war, they now have a chance to learn while before they couldn't, and they have a great interest of learning, " said Saif Udin, Literacy Course instructor. "We have some students that were not able to write and read their own language, and now they are able."
The 209th Corps' Literacy Program, which has only been in place since April 2009, is designed to better prepare soldiers for progression in the army.
"I've got some soldiers that were illiterate, but now, due to the literacy class, are able to read," said Maj. Gari Mohammad Ghulam, Religious and Cultural Affairs advisor. "They will be able to become better non-commissioned officers and officers because of this training."
Literacy training is divided into two levels, each with separate phases that are tracked by instruction hours. The first level is conducted in four phases for a combined 192 hours of training.
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2010 08:16 |
| Story ID: | 49080 |
| Location: | CAMP SHAHEEN, AF |
| Web Views: | 269 |
| Downloads: | 245 |
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