In Afghanistan, over 40 thousand teachers are taking an exam on Sunday to improve their pay scale and attract international funding for higher salaries. The test has been designed to boost education standards in the war-torn country where teaching has been affected by lower educational qualifications and less salary for teachers. <br/> <br/>More than 70 percent of teachers have only studied up to high school and are paid only around 100 US dollars per month, grossly inadequate to feed a family. <br/> <br/>A spokesman for the Ministry of Education Sediq Amarkhil told AIR that the new salaries in the pay scale of 120 to 428 US dollars will be fixed from next academic year depending upon the performance of teachers today and their experience. <br/> <br/>Teachers make up two-thirds of the government service and are crucial link between central government and the remote rural areas. The country and its international partners have focused on education after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001. <br/> <br/>Enrollment in schools went from around 11 lakh in 2001 to around 70 lakh presently while the number of teachers rose from around 20,000 to more than 160,000.<br/>