I am pleased today to announce a significant joint initiative between Australia and Malaysia to improve teacher training and boost literacy in Afghanistan.
This new joint initiative will see around 30 master teacher trainers trained in modern teaching methods.
These master trainers will be trained in Malaysia and then return to Afghanistan and pass on these new skills to other teacher trainers.
Literacy levels in Afghanistan are amongst the lowest in the world and a key priority for the Afghanistan Government is to boost literacy as fast as possible.
This master teacher training will make a significant contribution to helping the Government of Afghanistan achieve this important goal.
This joint initiative is a new chapter of cooperation between Australia and Malaysia working together to achieve a more secure and stable Afghanistan.
The detailed arrangements for this new joint initiative will be finalised following consultations between AusAID and the Governments of Malaysia and Afghanistan over the next two weeks.