AFGHAN HIGHER EDUCATION: DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001037 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/PPD, SCA/A STATE FOR ECA E.O. 12958 N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO KIRC SCUL EAID AF SUBJECT: AFGHAN HIGHER EDUCATION: DEVELOPING THE NEXT GENERATION OF AFGHAN LEADERS ¶1. SUMMARY: Afghan higher education was decimated during the civil war and never re-built during the Taliban years. In the past eight years, great improvements have been made, notably in rebuilding infrastructure and reestablishing standards of higher education. However, of the more than 2,300 instructors, 60% have only a Bachelor's Degree. Curriculum continues to be outdated, with little innovation. Additionally, only a quarter of high school graduates are able to secure university admissions due to a shortage of space. End summary. HIGHER EDUCATION TODAY ¶2. Higher education in Afghanistan is made available at 16 national universities; the flagship campus is Kabul University, which is the largest and oldest university in Afghanistan. It offers programs in 70 disciplines to approximately 25,000 students. Herat University has eleven departments and 6,400 students (34% are women). Balkh University (in the north) is moving to a larger campus, and graduates have good employment possibilities locally. Approximately 40% are women. Students at all these institutions tend to be optimistic about the future of the university and their own futures. ¶3. At the universities in the south (particularly Kandahar University and Sheikh Zayed University in Khost),many of the students had spent time at schools in Pakistan where they learned English. Although both universities admit women, they are scarce on campus. In Khost, where no women at all were seen during a recent visit, the Rector noted that the women do self-study at home and come in to the university only for exams, so they don't actually get the benefits of having professors. The students here are less optimistic than at the western and northern universities. A PRIORITY, BUT LACKING BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE ¶4. Education is a high priority for most Afghans. As Rector Hamidullah Amin of Kabul University has pointed out, employment opportunities for graduates are excellent, since their expertise is needed throughout Afghanistan. However, there are only 20,000 university spots open per year, for more than 90,000 graduates this year. In about five years, when the current cohort of 850,000 secondary students - the first beneficiaries of expanded education in the post-Taliban era- has graduated, the higher educational system will be unable to accommodate them. According to Rector Amin, the higher education system in Afghanistan is only set to expand by about 5,000 seats in the same time frame. Training for marketable skills will be vital to avoid a crisis of unemployed and unemployable youth. ¶5. Universities nationwide struggle to attract and retain qualified instructors. Only 40% of faculty have graduate degrees - 34% have MAs, only 6% have PhDs (and in the entire country, only 2 females have PhDs, both at Kabul University). The low numbers of faculty with graduate degrees are a primary reason Kabul's Fulbright program caters exclusively to students pursuing MA degrees. Professors' salaries are often not competitive to those offered by western employers. Additionally, most universities lack adequate textbooks, teaching space, and funding. ¶6. Because of the lack of textbooks in Dari, both Kabul and Herat universities have been approached by Iranians seeking greater influence on their campuses. (Note: Afghan Dari and Iranian Farsi are almost identical in their written form and mutually intelligible to native speakers in their verbal form.) When Rector Amin (a dual Afghan-Australian citizen) was in Tehran in March 2009, the rector of Tehran University offered him textbooks and curriculum assistance. He responded, "You are our friends, but we will call on you if we need your help." Kabul University's bookstore sells almost exclusively Iranian texts, as there is little else available in Dari. ¶7. Rector Assad of Herat University has been quick to point out that he is open to cooperation with all countries, because the university's needs are so great. He emphasized that the university's relationship with Iran is not political in nature, but strictly economic and out of necessity. He admitted that the Iranians also question Herat University's relationship with the U.S. and Germany. He admitted to the need to maintain equilibrium and a delicate balance in allowing exchanges. Herat University's position is that they are equal opportunity in their acceptance of assistance and are happy to take help from Iran, the United States, and western Europe. The university has only two faculty with PhDs. CURRENT USG RELATIONSHIPS ¶8. Post's greatest number of contacts are with Kabul University and Herat University. Public Affairs activities at Kabul University include a Lincoln Center, frequent workshops by visiting American speakers and specialists, and an Embassy officer speaker program. KABUL 00001037 002 OF 002 This year we also supported the first-ever short term Fulbright Study of the U.S. Institute for senior students, which countered many of their misperceptions with actual experience in the United States. We have included Kabul University students and staff in major thematic outreach events, such as Iftaars during Ramadan, elections programming, and embassy events in honor of International Women's Day. ¶9. The PRT State representative in Herat has frequently organized events for Herat students at the Lincoln Center, and we also regularly offer educational advising and other services. Additionally, an English language specialist conducted teacher training for both Kabul and Herat university instructors recently. Public Affairs and the Military Information Support Teams have plans underway to assess, upgrade, and employ the underutilized university media infrastructure. Our "Voices of a Nation" program will train professors and students on the technical use of radio, print and television capabilities, and also will also ensure they have the necessary skills to produce and promote moderate messages. ¶10. USAID-sponsored programs have trained faculty, staff and students, provided needed infrastructure, and assisted the Ministry of Higher Education with capacity development and other vital services. In addition to funding and providing technical support to the American University of Afghanistan (AUAf),USAID works with three of the major universities based in Kabul (Kabul University, Kabul Medical University and Kabul Polytechnic University) to offer substantial training in both content and pedagogy to university staff and faculty across disciplines. Other projects throughout the country focus on English, IT and pedagogy at the institutes training the country's secondary school teachers. USAID's extensive network of specialized partners has helped to establish a presence at each of Afghanistan's 19 public universities. ¶11. Despite current levels of engagement, the need to do more is great. Rector Hamidullah Amin noted, "At Kabul University, there are students from every province. While we often try to convince the father in the border regions, we often neglect the son who is with us. For instance, energy is spent on the villager who is 70%, 80%, even 95% Talib in the province, but instead we ought to focus our energy on the son who is with us, convince the son here, who will then convince his father when he returns to the village. Additionally, he will convince the other villagers because education is respected. But if you ignore the son, you will lose both son and father." Both directly and indirectly, education can have this kind of impact on security. CONCLUSION ¶12. The higher education sector is extremely important for Afghanistan's future; not only for developing human resources in the education, health, agriculture, justice, sharia, and other sectors, but also politically. All major Afghan political movements of the 20th century started among students and faculty of Kabul University, including the communists, the Islamists, and the radical Islamists. Much may be brewing politically under the surface of Afghan university life now, possibly new ethno-centric movements, possibly new Islamic movements. Our efforts to shape the direction Afghan higher education takes may pay dividends for years to come. A follow-on cable will address post's recommendations for university partnerships. RICCIARDONE