Baha - May 30, 2007 1
Depoliticizing and improving higher education
in Afghanistan
Bahawodin Baha, University of Brighton, UK.
The education system in Afghanistan had been misused for political short-term
gains during the last two and half decades and the subsequent results have been
a complete devastation of the whole infrastructure in the country. In order to
overcome this catastrophic destruction, the authorities in Afghanistan should
make every effort to isolate all political activities from higher educational
institutions in the country. Furthermore, the present and future generations of
Afghanistan should make every effort to keep education and politics separate
from each other and follow international norms and standards at higher
educational institutions.
At the present situation in Afghanistan, depoliticizing the education system is not
an easy task; however, it is recommended that strong steps are taken in the
following three main areas:
1. Political Front
Political parties should be encouraged to refrain from using higher
educational institutions throughout the country for political
activities.
Educate parliamentarians in Afghanistan about educational
development at the developed world, where educational institutions
are free from political activities.
A subject that discusses the role law and responsibilities of
individuals within a society should be integrated within the
curriculum of all courses throughout the universities in Afghanistan.
Media services such as radios, TVs should be encouraged to
broadcast programmes that will help to depoliticize educational
system by discussing various educational issues at developed world
with Afghan and non-Afghan experts.
2. At government level, Better management
Improving the management at ministry of higher education and
within higher education institutions is essential. The management
at MoHE and KU is not very strong; the management at KPU is
non-existent and outdated. It is impossible to make any progress
under the present management at KPU.
A regulatory body needs to be established to monitor the standards
of all courses throughout the universities in Afghanistan including
any private institutions that may emerge in the future. This is a
common practice in the modern world and by this way the
standards can be maintained.
Baha - May 30, 2007 2
Awareness seminars and workshops should be held for all senior
managers at MoHE, KU and KPU about educational development
throughout the world.
The management at all the ministries including MoHE, KU and KPU
should identify and prioritise projects within higher education sector
and then ask USAID and other donors to conduct such projects.
Stop some US opportunistic companies and foreign organisations to
use Afghanistan for huge financial gains from their governments
and aid organisations to conduct ineffective projects at all sectors
including higher education in Afghanistan. The output of the
following USAID and other agencies funded projects should be fully
assessed by the Afghan government and less effective projects
must be identified and USAID should be urged to redirect the
resources to more effective projects in higher education sector.
List of USAID funded projects at the education sector in Afghanistan:
i. Basic Education Project ($75 M) A 5 year project providing training for teachers, those who support
teachers and capacity building for MOE. This project has the lead for setting up an education
management information system in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and other donors.
ii. Community Based Education Project ($24 M) A 5 year project improving the quality and scope of
community schools, teacher training and linkages of community schools to MOE.
iii. Higher Education Project ($40 M) A 5 year project improving 16 faculties of education pre-service
teacher, and support for ensuring sustained quality.
iv. Literacy and Productive Skills Project ($20 M) A 5 year project to build capacity of private providers
of development-focused literacy & vocational skills.
v. Capacity Building for Ministry of Women's Affairs ($2.5 M) A 2 year project to build capacities of
Ministry of Women's Affairs in advocacy & policy development, programming & management of Women's
Resource Centers.
vi. American University of Afghanistan (17.5 M) In cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education of
the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and private donors, the United States Government is supporting the
establishment of American University of Afghanistan, a private, independent American-style university.
vii. Washington State University (11 M) A 4 year project designed to establish educational and e-
learning alliances in institutions of higher education. These alliances will be both regional and
international in scope.
viii. APEP Extension ($7.5) A 1 year extension of the Accelerated Learning program through February
30 2007, to enable all currently enrolled students (170,000) to complete their course work.
ix. Part of Bearing Point recently awarded contract from USAID, which is worth $218 M will also be spent
on Capacity Building at education and higher education in Afghanistan.
Proper utilisation of foreign aid has to be a major priority of our
government.
Baha - May 30, 2007 3
3. Improving Educational programmes
Committing all academics to their jobs
According to the limited experience of the author, it is regrettable to
report that most academics within certain faculties at KU and KPU are not
fully committed to their academic jobs and have 2
nd
jobs elsewhere, any
possible progress without their full commitment is impossible.
A major problem that the whole education system is facing is the salary
structure of academic and technical staff, which is currently much lower
than similar roles in international and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs). The government urgently needs to address this issue. Attractive
remuneration packages should be offered to suitably qualified and well
motivated professionals. Rules and regulations should be introduced and
all academics should be encouraged to conduct research and consultancy
for other organizations in a transparent way that is governed by a suitable
body within their institutions. These activities will also boost the
motivation of academic staff within the university.
Extensive review of Curricula
The curricula of most faculties have not been updated for decades as there
are many academics that are unaware of the recent development in the
development in science and technologies. The authorities need to assess
the suitability of all the courses within the university, revise some courses,
introduce new courses and perhaps drop some old courses all together.
Some of the courses are based on notes, which were prepared decades
ago, such notes should be updated with a view to integrate the recent
development in all subjects.
Training of academic staff
This is one the main issues to be addressed with urgency as all the
courses will be delivered by academic staff. Academic staff can be trained
using the following methods:
1. Scholarships to obtain higher degrees
2. Seminars and conferences
3. Creating subject groups
4. Inviting expatriate Afghans from western world to present
seminars and deliver advance courses in one or two weeks
5. Introducing academic staff to research and scholarly
activities.
Learning resources
The learning resources, i.e. text books, laboratory equipment, computers
and related software are not adequate and outdated; the problems related
to learning resources should be addressed with urgency.
Baha - May 30, 2007 4
Promotion of science and technology
The issues of promoting science and technology and initiatives on
knowledge transfer should be seriously investigated by the authorities.
Suitable steps should be taken to address these important issues. The
developments in science and technology during the last three decades
brought prosperity and better economic conditions in the modern world.
Higher educational institutions such as Kabul University should take a
leading rule that will guide the Afghan people to more prosperity and good
standard of life.
Equipping the labs
It is well known that all educational establishments were severely
damaged and in most cases all the buildings and other facilities were
burned in the civil war. The equipment and furniture was looted,
laboratories were demolished and libraries burned to ashes. Equipping the
laboratories throughout all the faculties should be in a high priority list of
the authority as without proper labs, the education in some science and
engineering based subjects are meaningless.
At present, there is little or no laboratory equipment at most education
institutions in Kabul or around the country. For instance, students who are
educated at engineering and technical education institutions may not have
seen electronic components such as diodes, transistors, operational
amplifiers nor have they access to basic laboratory equipment such as
multi-meters, oscilloscopes, signal generators etc.
Promotion of practical courses
Kabul University should be a leading player promoting Technical,
Vocational Education (TVE) by training the instructors, preparing
curriculum and other TVE activities in Afghanistan.
The curriculum of engineering education establishments should be
reviewed extensively and updated in the light of recent advances in
engineering. Beside traditional analytical courses, there is also a need to
train engineers and technicians suitably for the desperate local needs.
Engineering programs should be adaptable and the courses must be
reviewed and modified from time to time, as in the past some
inappropriate foreign models and methodologies have been imposed on
vocational and technical education.
The economy of Afghanistan was based on agriculture with little use of
modern technology and hence there is no significant industrial base in the
country. This represents a disadvantage for Afghan graduates, as they
have no means of gaining work experience in industry compared to
graduates in other countries. Therefore, it will be essential for there to be
a practical element relevant to local needs embedded within certain
disciplines, especially in engineering and science subjects.
Practical courses should be developed for less motivated students and the
UK model of Higher National Diploma (HND) and Higher National
Certificate (HNC) should be introduced at Kabul University. Kabul
University should be able to facilitate and major TVE and other programs
Baha - May 30, 2007 5
that may be launched by the Afghan government with the help of
international organizations.
Kabul University should develop programs for technical colleges and high
schools to develop vocational education courses for skilled workers
according to local needs, such as car repair, repair of electrical and
electronic appliances and computing equipment.
Establishing computer centres
Computer centres should be established and Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) should be introduced at all the faculties,
as it is essential that the students have familiarity and access to ICT. The
students and staff could then collaborate and interact with other people
throughout the world and find out information about advances in many
fields of technology using ICT tools.
Creating a Website for Kabul and other Universities
Kabul and other Universities in Afghanistan should be on the world
digital map is essential and the authority needs to develop ICT policies
and promote ICT with immediate effect. All academic and admin staff
should be encouraged to participate in the learning process of ICT tools
and the use internet. Websites can play a major rule for information
and exchange and communications within the educational community.
One of the main issues missing from the overall education system in the
past was the development of personal communication skills. Presentations
and report writing skills are an essential part of any education system. It
is highly recommended that the introduction of such communication skills
be started at an earlier stage in education. These skills should be
integrated within all courses at Kabul and other universities in
Afghanistan.
Research and scholarly activities
Most academic staff should be encouraged to participate in research and
scholarly activities and it will be a challenging task to retrain academic
staff to participate in such activities. Programs for research seminars and
conferences would facilitate the research and scholarly activities. The
creation of at least two journals, one for science based subject and the
second for social sciences subjects is highly recommended in the first
place.
The formation of subject based societies should be investigated and
established in the future and these societies should be encouraged to
communicate with international institutions such as the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) in the U.S.A, the Institute of
Electrical Engineers (IEE) in the U.K., medical societies around the world
etc.
Establishing regulatory body
Baha - May 30, 2007 6
A regulatory body needs to be established to monitor the standards of all
courses throughout the universities in Afghanistan including any private
institutions that may emerge in the future. This is a common practice in
the modern world and by this way the standards can be maintained.
Extensive review of all the regulations
Most rules and regulations at Kabul University were developed over three
decades ago and have not been updated because of the war and instability
in the country. All the regulations should be extensively reviewed and
modernized according to international standards, specifically in the
following areas:
i.Recruitment and promotion of academics
ii.Academic ranking
iii.Reviewing various committees
Close collaboration with other higher educational
institutions
Establishing close collaboration with institutions inside and outside
Afghanistan is an essential step that the authority at Kabul University has
to take as most future scientist; politicians and managers will graduate
from Kabul University. The university should establish close ties with other
higher education institutions and ministries specially education,
communication, economics, energy, mines and industry, etc.
Similarly, the authorities at Kabul University should establish collaboration
with outside world through the following channels:
1- Through governments
2- Institutions such as USAID, British Council
3- Expatriate Afghans working at various institutions in the
western world
4- Encourage expatriate Afghans to participate in rebuilding the
education sector in Afghanistan
5- Through visiting professorships.
External Advisors to Kabul and other Universities
Kabul University and other higher educational institutions need to consider
appointing external advisors; Afghan expatriates teaching at Universities
in the developed world can play an important role that will help in the
following areas:
A. Curricula development
B. Training teaching staff in advance subjects
Baha - May 30, 2007 7
C. Teaching some advanced subjects (concentrated on
two or three weeks) to the final year students.
D. Setup of laboratories as most science and
engineering subjects should be supported by proper lab
programs. Engineering graduates must be equipped by both
analytical and practical skills.
E. Develop Lab programs
F. Training teaching staff and senior students basic
computer technology and ICT
G. Identify textbooks for all the courses.
H. To establish regulatory body to monitor the standard
of education throughout all higher education institutions.
I. Organize and participate in seminars and conferences
about the re-establishment of proper education system in
Afghanistan.
J. Develop programs, which are suitable for local needs.
K. The Afghan expatriates who work at educational
institutions in the modern world should share their
experience with their counterparts at Kabul University and
other educational establishments in Afghanistan.
L. Knowledge and experience can be transferred
through expatriates.
M. Consideration should be made to invite expatriates
Afghans teaching at the universities in the modern world to
act as external advisors for most courses at Kabul and other
Universities.
Physical infrastructure
The majority of the buildings of all educational institutions including Kabul
University have been severely damaged by war and neglect. Those
buildings that survived the war are in a poor state of repair, i.e. leaking
roofs, damp etc. These buildings have not been maintained for at least
twenty years. In addition, there is shortage of running water and
electricity and the sanitation facilities are very poor. The authorities should
rectify these problems with urgency.
Furthermore, the lack of any major work at the campuses of Kabul based
higher educational institutions is disappointing, which was very nice during
1980s. The authorities need to urgently improve the physical appearance
Baha - May 30, 2007 8
of the University by cleaning the gardens, trimming the tree and bushes,
planting flowers etc.
Improving the process of entry examination (Kankoor) to
higher educational institutions in Afghanistan
The ministry of education and local education authority should make every
effort to improve the primary and secondary education system as some of
these students will continue into higher education institutions. The entry
examination should be extensively reviewed and an atmosphere should be
created where the students can set this exam with great confidence on the
system.
