Higher education in Afghanistan pinched by war & corruption.

Proper education is one of the most important thing to be made available for  Afghan youth specially after 3 decades of war. 50% of the Afghan population which estimated  around 30.4 million as of the year 2012, are children under the age of 15. Afghanistan has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world. Today, and according to the NRVA, the estimated national adult literacy rate (aged 15 and above) is 26 percent. In rural areas, where approximately 74 percent of all Afghans reside, the situation is more acute, with an estimated 93 percent of women and 65 percent of men lacking basic reading and writing skills.

In recent years, there have been some efforts for improvement. However, higher education in present day Afghanistan remains a fragile area, hugely dependent upon foreign assistance, having meager resources and feeble infrastructure.

Public education in Afghanistan leaves much to be desired. The state-mandated curriculum has not been updated in the 30 years since it was introduced by the Soviets during their occupation.

Ministry of Higher Education Afghanistan has being involved in corruption for few years now. In 2012 almost 90% of ABDUL RAHIM SHAHID and MAREFAT High School (located in Dasht Barchi area of Kabul), students’ got high marks and enrolled in universities, even though most of those students did not achieve the required grades to pass & some even failed. These increase in their grades were at the cost of deduction from other students who had actually passed their exams and were suppose to enroll in universities. Many bright students testified that they had studied day and night, taking extra tutions to prepare for exams and would usually score high grades in school tests. Yet, 50 to 100 marks were deliberately reduced from their overall grades in the final kankor exams. This is one of the example of how the hard work and grades of the students are not taken seriously. This action is repeatedly done by the senior staffs of MoHE, showing the special consideration of MoHE to a group of Afghans and snatches the right of others. This creates obstacles in improvement and development of Afghanistan and disunity among the people and mostly it discourages young afghans to continue their education knowing their marks will be stolen/reduced no matter how hard they try knowing how unfair the staff of MoHE are towards them.

Relying on the private sector might seem a reasonable way to make up for a shortfall in public higher-education spots in Afghanistan: Only 43,000 out of 117,000 applicants were granted admission following a national entrance examination of Public Higher education in March.

But the rapid growth of the loosely regulated private higher-education sector raises as many questions as it provides solutions.

“Everybody knows that they operate as businesses, but our concern is, What if they suddenly close down and leave us high and dry?” asks Jawad Layeq, a second-year student at the Gharjestan Institute of Higher Education,

“In Britain, the United States, India, and elsewhere, private-education standards are very high. The same level of standards can also be achieved in Afghanistan, but unfortunately, right now, [some of] these institutions are only there to earn money,” he told the directors of many of the new private schools and institutes.

A student at a private university told IWPR at the campus gate that taking the state university entrance exam was futile because there are fewer and fewer places for more and more students every year. He was forced to turn to the independent sector but he complains that the education is inadequate.

“The education standard in privately-owned universities is very low. We do not have professional teachers, training materials, properly equipped libraries, laboratories or internet services,” he claimed.

“These universities do not fail students because of the fees they pay so the students realise this and do not study hard. Their aim is to complete the four-year course and obtain a graduation certificate without studying.”

With the government’s meager resources swamped by demand, private providers have aggressively pursued students. Banners, billboards, television spots, and radio ads promise an “open educational environment,” “library and well-equipped lab,” and “debate and thought exchange programs.”

“Sometimes when you look at the billboards and advertisements of these private schools and higher-education institutes, it feels like they are promoting some soap or dress,” says Masoud Hassanzada, a prominent poet, blogger, and cultural and social commentator. “Education shouldn’t become so heavily commercialized, due to its sanctity and moral value.”

There are clearly many problems still to solve, like the monitoring of instructor qualifications. Many instructors employed in higher education, both public and private, hold only bachelor’s degrees. The situation is worse in secondary schools, where teachers may have only just left school themselves, and are working to finance their further studies.

Students are also concerned that once they make their choice in the private sector, they are effectively stuck with it, regardless of any problems they might have with the program.

“I can’t now start from the beginning anywhere else,” says Mr. Layeq, the student from the Gharjestan Institute of Higher Education. “Private colleges are not like state ones, which allow you to change your university whenever you want. So I have to stay and finish my studies here.”

Nearly all students in Afghanistan who wish to study beyond a Bachelor’s degree need to go abroad because there are no suitable programs available at home - and that means going to Pakistan, India or Iran.

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