Doha, February 27 (QNA) - Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Republic of Iran to acknowledge the Education Above All Foundation (EAA) project, which provides educational opportunities to 24,900 Irani children and Afghan refugee children across the country.

The memorandum comes to address barriers children are facing in accessing a quality primary education, as poverty, cultural barriers, Infrastructural shortfalls, gender inequalities and lack of proper documentation are all obstacles that children face, preventing them from accessing primary education. Often, children who have access to school, drop out or never enroll, as priority is given to supporting their families.

The Improving Access to Primary Education for Out of School Children (OOSC) in Iran project focuses on increasing access to education services, improving quality of education and enabling environments in new educational facilities, and strengthening school-related human resource capital.

To achieve these aims, this three-year project is working to build and equip new schools and classrooms; promote social cohesion in target communities through parent- teacher associations (PTAs); provide cash assistance to families; and offer accelerated-education programming to overage children, so that they can reach the appropriate level to enter formal education or obtain primary-level education certification.

With the shared goal of improving inclusive and quality education, this project is being implemented across the provinces of Hormozgan, Kerman, Khorasan-Razavi, Semnan, Sistanand Baluchistan, and Tehran through EAAs joint partnership project with NRC, supported by QFFD.

Iran hosts a large Afghan refugee community consisting of more than 700,000 people. Refugee children often suffer from greater difficulties after fleeing conflict. Poverty, cultural barriers and gender inequalities, in addition to difficult economic conditions, can add a bigger burden on these childrens educational path. (QNA)