Written question asked by Gordon Prentice (Labour) on Monday, 30 November 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 December 2009. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Monday, 14 December 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Afghanistan: Armed Forces

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the proportion of recruits to (a) the Afghan national army and (b) the Afghan police force who are illiterate.

Answer: The literacy rates for both the Afghan national army and Afghan national police currently estimated to stand at 93 per cent. for officers, 30 per cent. for non-commissioned officers and 11 per cent. for enlisted soldiers.ISAF are working to address the low literacy levels with the Afghan Government. This has included letting two contracts to help with the education of recruits to the Afghan national army and Afghan national police.UK forces in Helmand work to improve the basic literacy and numeracy of members of the Afghan national army and Afghan national police by means of train-the-trainer programmes run by the Adjutant General Corps Education & Training Service and the Ministry of Defence police respectively.

Secondary information