On 10 July 2017, the LSE's Department of International Development hosted an event on The Role of Higher Education in Ensuring Afghanistan's Prosperous Future. The participants included Dr Kenneth Holland, President at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF); Dr Said Tayeb Jawad, Ambassador of Afghanistan to the UK; and award winning anchor and correspondent Yalda Hakim. Here, the co-chair of the event Dr Sajjan Gohel discusses the role education can serve to build the human capital necessary to place the country on a secure and stable path, and what role the international community can play to support Afghanistan at this critical juncture

Gohel, Sajjan

LSE Research Online

Despite	security	challenges,	Afghanistan’seducation	system	has	come	a	long	wayOn	10	July	2017,	the	LSE’s	Department	of	International	Development	hosted	an	event	on	The	Role	of	HigherEducation	in	Ensuring	Afghanistan’s	Prosperous	Future.	The	participants	included	Dr	Kenneth	Holland,	Presidentat	the	American	University	of	Afghanistan	(AUAF);	Dr	Said	Tayeb	Jawad,	Ambassador	of	Afghanistan	to	the	UK;and	award	winning	anchor	and	correspondent	Yalda	Hakim.	Here,	the	co-chair	of	the	event	Dr	Sajjan	Goheldiscusses	the	role	education	can	serve	to	build	the	human	capital	necessary	to	place	the	country	on	a	secure	andstable	path,	and	what	role	the	international	community	can	play	to	support	Afghanistan	at	this	critical	juncture.It	was	an	honour	to	co-chair	a	panel	discussion	on	the	important	issue	of	education	in	Afghanistan.	The	event,organised	by	the	LSE’s	Department	of	International	Development,	helped	create	the	space	for	discussion	aboutthe	future	of	Afghanistan’s	development	and	provided	a	platform	for	interdisciplinary	collaboration	and	knowledgeexchange	between	the	LSE	and	the	AUAF.	It	was	also	uplifting	to	have	so	many	young	talented	Afghans	in	theaudience	interested	in	facilitating	the	country’s	progress.Afghanistan’s	education	system	has	far	too	often	shared	and	reflected	the	security	upheavals	of	the	country.However,	despite	this,	the	Afghan	people’s	belief	in	education	as	an	enabling	force	remains	indefatigable.	Even	inthe	face	of	the	fragility	in	Afghanistan	today,	education	provides	the	best	opportunity	to	empower	the	youth	andprovide	not	just	hope	but	capacity	for	a	better	tomorrow.Primary	and	secondary	educationIt	is	clear	that	without	a	strong	higher	education	system,	Afghanistan	cannot	properly	manage	itself	or	develop	theresources	that	it	has.	At	the	same	time,	attention	also	needs	to	be	paid	to	primary	and	secondary	education	toensure	these	students	are	equipped	to	take	advantage	of	the	opportunities	that	a	university	education	can	offer.Educational	development	is	one	of	Afghanistan’s	principal	success	stories	in	the	post-Taliban	era.	Although	thereis	a	need	for	better	data	on	school	attendance	across	the	country	it	is	clear	that	there	has	been	a	substantial	risein	active	student	participation	since	the	Taliban	regime	was	overthrown	in	2001	during	Operation	EnduringFreedom.	This	progress	is	due	to	a	combination	of	support	from	the	international	community	and	focusedprovision	from	the	Afghan	government;	education	is	the	third	biggest	budget	disbursement	after	securityenhancement	and	critical	national	infrastructure.LSE	International	Development	panel	on	higher	education	in	Afghanistan.	From	left:Dr	Kenneth	Holland,	Ambassador	Said	Tayeb	Jawad,	Yalda	Hakim,	Dr	Sajjan	GohelSouth Asia @ LSE: Despite security challenges, Afghanistan’s education system has come a long way Page 1 of 4		Date originally posted: 2017-07-17Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2017/07/17/despite-security-challenges-afghanistans-education-system-has-come-a-long-way/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/However,	there	are	issues	that	still	require	greater	attention	such	as	reports	of	so-called	‘ghost	schools’	insouthern	Afghanistan	where	there	are	no	students,	and	reports	of	the	misappropriation	of	funds	earmarked	foreducation	in	some	provinces.	Many	schools	currently	lack	the	required	materials	and	textbooks	to	teach,	andmore	training	is	needed	to	ensure	that	teachers	possess	the	necessary	qualifications	to	raise	academic	standardsin	primary	and	secondary	schools.For	Afghan	women,	education	is	even	more	pivotal	in	challenging	political,	social	and	economic	marginalisation.According	to	the	World	Bank,	estimates	of	adult	women’s	literacy	rates	across	Afghanistan	vary	from	17	per	centto	24	per	cent.	However	these	figures	oscillate	drastically	and	the	disparities	are	more	apparent	amongst	thesouthern	provinces,	where	the	Taliban	still	have	a	strong	presence.	UNESCO	reports	that	women	in	Kabul	have	aliteracy	rate	of	34.7	per	cent,	while	women	in	Helmand,	a	culturally	conservative	province	which	is	alsoexperiencing	greater	insecurity	due	to	the	Taliban,	has	a	literacy	rate	of	just	1.6	per	cent.Higher	educationAfghanistan’s	progress	on	university	education	is	another	success	story.	Since	2001,	the	existing	universitieshave	grown	and	expanded	their	student	population,	while	over	120	new	private	universities	have	been	created.Nationally,	university	admissions	have	risen	from	a	mere	7,900	students	in	2001	to	300,000	students	in	2017.At	the	moment	there	is	significant	variation	in	quality.	The	American	University	of	Afghanistan	(AUAF),	a	privatenot-for-profit,	non-partisan	and	co-educational	university	in	Kabul	supported	jointly	by	American	and	Afghanfunding,	has	set	the	bar	high	with	US	academic	standards,	an	international	faculty	(some	60	per	cent	of	thefaculty	come	from	outside	Afghanistan,	drawn	from	15	countries)	and	a	student	body	drawn	from	every	provincein	the	country.The	event	attracted	a	diverse	audience	of	researchers,	students	and	professionalswith	an	interest	in	Afghanistan,	including	many	of	Afghan	origin.AUAF	was	founded	in	2006	with	the	daunting	task	to	provide	pioneering	higher	education	that	would	develop	thenext	generation	of	Afghanistan’s	leaders	and	industry	bosses.	That	said,	the	fruits	of	its	labour	are	now	visible,	asits	graduates	have	ended	up	in	the	civil	service,	management	positions	in	national	and	internationalorganisations,	or	pursuing	further	education	abroad.	The	former	Technology	Director,	Dr	Hamdullah	Mohib,	isalso	now	the	Afghan	ambassador	to	the	United	States.	Although	the	fees	are	high	by	Afghan	standards,	84	percent	of	students	receive	financial	assistance	and	scholarships.South Asia @ LSE: Despite security challenges, Afghanistan’s education system has come a long way Page 2 of 4		Date originally posted: 2017-07-17Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2017/07/17/despite-security-challenges-afghanistans-education-system-has-come-a-long-way/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/However,	not	all	universities	are	currently	able	to	achieve	the	same	standards.	Dr	Said	Tayeb	Jawad,Ambassador	of	Afghanistan	to	the	UK,	highlighted	that	there	is	a	necessity	to	redress	the	mismatch	betweenelements	of	university	curricula,	some	of	which	were	designed	50	years	ago	and	don’t	correlate	with	the	demandsof	the	current	job	market.	In	some	subjects,	for	example	agriculture,	mining	and	manufacturing,	a	vocationalelement	would	be	valuable.	This	is	where	public-private	partnerships	are	essential.	If	businesses	partnered	withuniversities	they	could	develop	programmes	that	develop	both	knowledge	and	skills	to	produce	highly	employablegraduates.It	would	be	unfair	at	this	stage	to	draw	comparisons	between	Afghan’s	tertiary	education	with	that	of	Europe	orthe	United	States.	At	the	moment,	universities	in	Afghanistan	haven’t	been	evaluated	by	international	or	regionalranking	bodies.	However,	as	standards	rise	this	is	only	a	matter	of	time.The	security	challengeThe	security	of	educational	institutions	at	all	levels	is	a	real	concern	in	Afghanistan	where	the	Taliban	and	itsaffiliates	actively	target	education	that	strays	from	their	own	narrow	doctrine,	resorting	to	burning	down	schools,beheading	teachers	and	targeting	female	students.	Ensuring	it	is	safe	for	teachers	and	students	to	turn	up	toschools	or	universities	is	an	essential	priority	in	Afghanistan.Sadly,	AUAF’s	success	has	also	attracted	the	undesirable	attention	of	terrorist	groups.	Shortly	after	AUAFcelebrated	its	landmark	10-year	anniversary	in	August	2016,	two	professors,	from	the	United	States	andAustralia,	were	kidnapped	outside	the	university	gates.	They	were	taken	by	the	Taliban-affiliated	HaqqaniNetwork	based	in	sanctuaries	in	Pakistan,	according	to	the	United	States.	They	have	been	held	hostage	eversince,	despite	efforts	to	free	them.However,	worse	was	still	to	come.	On	24	August,	2016,	the	Taliban	detonated	a	truck	bomb	outside	the	AUAF,tearing	apart	its	wall	and	enabling	the	militants	armed	with	grenades	and	automatic	weapons	to	enter	thecampus.	They	started	shooting	into	classrooms	while	hundreds	of	students	were	attending	evening	classes.	Theordeal	went	on	for	nine	hours	until	Afghan	security	forces	were	able	to	quell	the	attackers.	Sixteen	people	werekilled	and	dozens	injured.	One	of	those	killed	was	Naqib	Ahmad	Khpulwak,	a	Fulbright	scholar	who	returned	toAfghanistan	after	a	stint	as	a	visiting	fellow	at	Stanford	University’s	Law	School,	where	AUAF	has	a	partnership.Following	the	attack,	the	university	was	forced	to	close.	However,	both	Afghan	President	Ashraf	Ghani	and	ChiefExecutive	Officer	Abdullah	Abdullah	emphasised	the	centrality	of	higher	education	to	building	Afghanistan’sfuture.	During	its	closure,	the	AUAF	worked	on	developing	its	online	learning	infrastructure,	and	made	substantialenhancements	in	security.	Although	it	is	a	sad	reality	that	an	educational	institution	requires	high	level	protectionagainst	the	pervading	threat	of	terrorism,	upgrading	to	embassy-level	security	enabled	the	university	to	reopen	inMarch	2017.	In	April,	AUAF	welcomed	over	730	new	students	(47	per	cent	of	who	are	women),	a	higher	intakethan	in	the	autumn	of	2016	before	the	attack.ConclusionArezo	Kohistany	is	an	Afghan-American	whose	family	left	Afghanistan	when	the	Taliban	militia	came	to	power.She	now	works	at	the	World	Bank’s	International	Finance	Corporation	and	recently	completed	an	MSc	in	Financeat	the	LSE.	She	said	to	me,	“higher	education	is	Afghanistan’s	best	weapon	against	extremism.	It	gives	us	thetools	to	strike	at	the	core	of	extremism,	its	ideology.	The	Taliban	began	by	killing	the	educated	and	learned	classof	Afghan	society	because	they	consider	them	a	bigger	threat	to	their	existence	than	their	armed	opponents”.An	educated	Afghanistan	is	the	only	long	term	solution	to	build	resilience	against	violent	extremism	as	well	asviable	governing	institutions.	However,	for	this	to	work,	the	Afghan	government	and	international	communityneeds	to	continue	providing	support	in	order	to	institutionalise	access	to	quality	education	for	all	Afghan	girls	andboys	at	all	levels	in	both	rural	areas	and	urban	centres.	Alongside	NGOs,	universities	across	the	world	need	toestablish	collaborative	relationships	with	institutions	in	Afghanistan	to	build	capacity	and	support	research	thatcan	inform	policy.South Asia @ LSE: Despite security challenges, Afghanistan’s education system has come a long way Page 3 of 4		Date originally posted: 2017-07-17Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2017/07/17/despite-security-challenges-afghanistans-education-system-has-come-a-long-way/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/Kohistany,	who	has	travelled	back	to	Afghanistan	and	worked	there	in	the	past,	added	that	“access	to	highereducation	in	Afghanistan	and	abroad	has	enabled	Afghans	to	acquire	the	knowledge	to	rebuild	their	war-torncountry	and	work	towards	a	stable	nation.”	The	challenges	are	visible	but	so	are	opportunities.	To	directly	quoteDr	Holland,	“Education	will	prevail!”This	article	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	the	South	Asia	@	LSE	blog,	nor	of	the	LondonSchool	of	Economics.	Please	read	our	comments	policy	before	posting.About	the	AuthorDr	Sajjan	Gohel	is	International	Security	Director	at	the	Asia-Pacific	Foundation,	Senior	Advisor	to	themultilateral	Partnership	for	Peace	Consortium’s	Combating	Terrorism	Working	Group	and	a	Guest	Teacher	in	theInternational	History	Department	at	the	LSE.	Read	his	previous	South	Asia	@	LSE	posts	here.South Asia @ LSE: Despite security challenges, Afghanistan’s education system has come a long way Page 4 of 4		Date originally posted: 2017-07-17Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2017/07/17/despite-security-challenges-afghanistans-education-system-has-come-a-long-way/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

Despite security challenges, Afghanistan's education system has come a long way

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