KABUL (SW): More than 130,000 students, a third of them female, passed “Kankor Test”, exam to enter university for the current academic year, bringing into focus Afghanistan's challenge to rebuild its education system.
The once heavily centralized public education system is now witnessing a new development; that of private colleges and universities with various specializations that have sprung up in major urban centers, including the capital Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.
In the second week of March, days before the academic year begins, private universities organized an unprecedented education fair in the heart of Kabul. It saw more than 50 private institutions promoting themselves in front of young Afghan students.
Aziz Barakzai, the organizer of the exhibition told SW the main purpose of the show was to promote the culture of education. “The students have shown a great interest, we plan to continue these exhibitions in the future,” he said.
A number of visiting students raised questions however, about the fee structure, academic year and quality of education offered by the private sector.
Haseeb Arya, a representative of the Kaardan Univesity, the first and the oldest private university in Afghanistan, founded in 2002, admitted that “some black sheep” have hampered the image of private sector.
Arya said experienced and qualified faculty members are hard to find in Afghanistan and that half of their own staff were from abroad, largely from Pakistan.
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