Serve Afghanistan has been working with Visually Impaired children in Afghanistan since its very early days. In 1993, it started working with Hearing Impaired children and established a school for Hearing Impaired children in 1996 which was handed over to the Afghan government in 2016. Serve was one of the founding members of ANAD (The Afghan National Association for the Deaf) and has been one of the major players in developing Afghan Sign language.
Over the years, Serve has funded the specialised training of hundreds of Master Trainers and more than 1,137 teachers in Braille and Afghan Sign Language (AFSL). Those Serve Afghanistan teachers and trainers have provided life-changing special-needs education and resources to more than 3,500 visually and hearing-impaired children. Serve also has worked with others to develop sign language dictionaries and a grammar book, which are widely used.
Serve Afghanistan has invested a huge amount of time and energy into building awareness of the importance of special education at national and local government level and with the local community. As a result, it has played a crucial role in forming Afghanistan’s National Education Strategic Plan and a school-based Inclusive Education Advisory Committee.
It works closely with the Ministry of Education in training and building the capacity of special needs teachers and implements the Child Friendly Education Policy 2014.
Thanks to the generous support of our funders, till 2024, Serve Afghanistan has successfully facilitated the establishment of 19 Model Schools that integrate special needs education into standard classrooms which has been handed over to the Ministry of Education. These schools continue to provide Inclusive Educations to the Children with Disabilities. Currently 6 schools are being developed as model school, these will also be handed over to the government once they have achieved their capacity to function effectively.
One of the important activities of Serve is the production of educational materials for Visually Impaired and low vision. These materials have helped students to have access to educational materials which otherwise would have no study materials thus hampering them to have quality education. Over the years, Serve has developed and produced educational materials according to Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education curriculum in Braille so that visually impaired students can have education materials according to the prescribed curriculum and continue their education. Materials were also produced for low vision students.
Serve Afghanistan has developed an online study material on Afghan Sign Language which is used and appreciated by many Hearing Impaired (HI) and institutions working with HI.
In 2024, Serve will target 881 Children with Disabilities through education programme.