USAID/BESST
Until now, more than 200,000 MoE personnel records have been on paper, accumulated over the years, and filling several rooms in the Human Resources Department.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) employs more people than any other civilian sector of the Afghan government. Employees in the Ministry’s Human Resources (HR) Department are responsible for more than 200,000 personnel files, which have been exclusively stored on paper, creating an immense challenge. Several rooms are full of paper files, stacked from floor to ceiling.
USAID’s Building Education Support Systems for Teachers (BESST) project has assisted HR to meet the goal to digitize all their records. Last year, with assistance from BESST, the MoE began converting all employee records. Recently, BESST procured equipment to begin scanning all HR documents. BESST also helped MoE refurbish a room and install electricity, while the MoE contributed furnishings and personnel to scan documents and manage the digitization process. BESST provides ongoing oversight for this process.
In February, the MoE held an opening ceremony to inaugurate the new room and formally launch the process of scanning personnel files. The HR general director thanked USAID for providing the equipment for storing the personnel files in the HR database. He said, “This has a significant, lifetime value for MoE. USAID has responded positively to this initiative, that means so much to the MoE. Otherwise, all of our employee records could be destroyed with one match. This initiative and assistance will leave a legacy with lasting benefits.”
USAID/Afghanistan Program Highlights: 2/16/2011-2/28/2011