I am writing as a young person who has the experience of going to school in Afghanistan and have also the experience of education in the UK.

Both these experiences have given me the ability to distinguish educational system both in the UK and Afghanistan. To give you a concise idea that how educational system works in Afghanistan. I will try to walk you through a day in the school back in Afghanistan.

Usually, the school day is short, and it is not more than four hours a day. A student starts their day by coming to school, most of the time not having a break, listen to the teacher for whole four hours.

There is less teamwork provided by teacher in the class. On the same time, you don’t have the opportunity to engage with opposite gender. You sit in single gender class where the method of teaching is more teacher centred. This means that you have less opportunity to engage with teacher or with other students. This method will not allow you to criticise or question what you have been told by your teacher.

Your class is not provided by any IT system and everything should be written by hand. So, students are less likely to engage with IT to support their studies. Also, the interaction and relationship between you and your teacher is quite strict, tough and closed. Teachers must respected and shouldn’t call by their name. Rather, you should use the title Mr, Ms, or the word Respected Teacher. You will leave the class and be told to memorise the lesson for tomorrow. 

Whereas, in the UK, the method of teaching is student centred, class are mix gender, you have access to IT and you have the opportunity to easily engage with your teacher. Teachers here should remember that refugee students from Afghanistan are vulnerable and need more support in time to adapt to the new system. They need to be provided with IT knowledge, with the skill of teamworking and be supported in terms of engaging with other students. Teachers should be more approachable towards them. This will give them the opportunity to interact back with the teachers.