ICT Trainings Continue in Afghanistan Despite Challenges

January 2007: WLP Afghanistan/Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) provides information communication technology (ICT) trainings at its IT Centers despite substantial infrastructure and logistical challenges, including an irregular supply of electricity, which requires the use of generators and thereby increases the cost of training.

Despite these challenges, AIL believes it is important to continue to hold ICT training workshops in order to help bridge the digital divide and enhance IT literacy skills for students and government officials. ICT trainings last from two to ten weeks and cover basic computer skills such as MS Windows, Word, and Excel.

In October through December 2006, AIL held a training for both men and women in which the age gap between the youngest and the eldest was forty years. Such mixed and intergenerational trainings are rare in the western provinces. The participants included about twenty students and government officials from the Ministries of Education, Women’s Affairs, Public Health, and the Economy at the WLP/AIL Center for ICT training in Herat. Participants reported that they will use these skills at work and will teach their peers and colleagues the skills they have learned.