Towards Education 5.0 preparedness among private schools teachers in Kandahar Afghanistan in an era of human technology integration

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the factors of Education 5.0 preparation among teachers in private schools in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in the context of the Human–Technology Integration Age. A quantitative cross-sectional research design was used, and data were analyzed by means of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the effects of teachers’ awareness of Education 5.0, digital competence, attitudes towards technology integration, and perceived institutional support on their preparedness for Education 5.0. The results indicated that awareness of Education 5.0 was the biggest predictor of preparedness (β = 0.56), followed by technology integration (β = 0.43), perceived institutional support (β = 0.30), and digital competence (β = 0.19). The structural model showed an excellent fit to the data (CFI = 0.961, RMSEA = 0.047) and explained 48.2% of the variance in teachers’ preparedness for Education 5.0. Results indicate that, despite teachers having basic digital skills and good attitudes towards the integration of technology, their preparedness is hampered by the scarcity of institutional and infrastructural support. The study suggests that the human-related elements, including knowledge and favorable attitude towards technology integration, are more effective than digital competence alone in molding teachers’ preparedness for Education 5.0. The findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of human-technology integration in resource-constrained educational settings and offer practical policy implications for strengthening teacher professional development, institutional capacity and digital transformation initiatives in Afghanistan.