Security, Capacity, and Literacy
Abstract
Imagine teaching a class completely devoid of letters and numbers. There would be no homework for the night before. A chalkboard would be useless outside of pictures. How much more difficult would your classes be to complete? How much longer would it take to get through the material? These are the challenges that we face in every training course we provide to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The reason I care about literacy instruction is capacity. Stability in Afghanistan hinges on the capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces to provide security. In order to support the Afghans in building this capacity, a foundation of professional and capable leaders is required, which begins with the basics of education, namely literacy. When I took command of NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) almost a year ago, the overall literacy rate of the Afghan National Security Forces stood at about 14 percent. As we assessed training programs for the army and police, it was immediately evident that illiteracy was affecting the speed and depth of instruction. All training has to be hands-on; each skill has to be demonstrated. Without the ability to provide written material to prime the pump, every new block of instruction starts from scratch. To address these issues and provide the tools necessary for professional, accountable, and capable security forces, we are placing a full-court press on literacy instruction across our training facilities in Afghanistan.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA535414
Entities
People
- Nathan K. Finney
- William B. Caldwell
Organizations
- United States Army Combined Arms Center