DONORS SHOW SUPPORT FOR THE MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION'S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000633 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ESTH SOCI EAID AF SUBJECT: DONORS SHOW SUPPORT FOR THE MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION'S NEW NATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION STRATEGIC PLAN REF: 09 KABUL 3907 ¶1. (U) Summary: On February 7, 2010, the USAID Mission Director along with the USG Education Team attended a donor conference in support of the Ministry of Higher Education's (MoHE) new National Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP). Five years in the making, involving close collaboration between the MoHE and various stakeholders, this plan provides a realistic roadmap for reform of the Higher Education system in Afghanistan and identifies specific areas for donor support. Donors pledged to increase both higher education scholarships and other forms of support for the NHESP. End Summary. THE CONFERENCE -------------- ¶2. (U) The conference was opened by His Excellency the Acting Minister of Higher Education, Sarwar Danesh. The Acting Minister has made some major decisions in support of the NHESP. He is urging Karzai to enact the revised Higher Education Law by decree, which includes creation of a Council of Higher Education Institutions as the foremost decision-making authority for higher education. He has initiated an "Administrative Reform" with the help of the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission, which will formalize new position grades and salaries thereby improving the quality and qualification of MoHE staff. He has also moved forward with plans to foster decentralization and give greater financial independence to universities as emphasized in the NHESP. Other proposals under the NHESP include establishment of a Department of Private Higher Education Institutions, an office on Academic Accreditation, a Department of Policy and Planning, and a Directorate to Supervise the NHESP. ¶3. (U) The Acting Minister emphasized four important aspects of implementation of the NHESP: 1) Setting up a structure to oversee the strategic planning implementation process; 2) Obtaining the necessary funding of $560 million from the donor community, noting that the MoHE was only able to cover salaries of faculty and staff; 3) Spending at least 50% of the funds for the Strategic Plan through the budget of the Government of Afghanistan; 4) Obtaining technical support to put these plans in place. He hoped UNESCO would be a partner in the implementation effort. The Acting Minister reminded the participants of the Government's and the international community's commitments at the London Conference and proposed that a joint committee of donors and MoHE representatives meet again before the Kabul Conference in the spring. ¶4. (U) Deputy Minister Mohammad Babury noted that the MoHE is embarking on one of the most important initiatives in its history, that success of the plan is vital to national development, and that the support of the donor community was vital to that success. He talked about the two major goals of the plan: improving the quality of higher education and doubling the enrollment of higher education students in five years. The Deputy Minister noted that the MoHE was already making preparations for implementation including: improving human resources; working with universities to implement NHESP policy and insuring that their own planning is in accordance with the NHESP; establishing donor coordination; eliminating corruption; and improving coordination with other ministries. He pointed out that the NHESP was a consensus document - representing the work of the MoHE as well as all of the stakeholders and that it was practical, feasible, and realistic. BILATERAL DONOR PLEDGES -------------- ¶5. (U) Several donors came forward with concrete pledges to help Afghanistan implement the NHESP. Noting that a strong higher education system was essential to development, the Ambassador from Turkey, H.E. Basat Ozturk offered scholarships for Afghan students to study in Turkey. He further noted that Turkey was prepared to admit additional students if donors could cover their costs. ¶6. (U) The Ambassador from the Russian Federation, H.E. Andrey Avertisyan noted that education was the key to peace in Afghanistan and the NHESP was an important first step toward achieving such peace. He further noted that Russia was ready to help support the NHESP and that they would increase the number of scholarships for Afghan students to more than 100 this year. He hoped they would be able to offer additional support for the NHESP following consultation with MOHE, perhaps by sending Russian university faculty members to Afghanistan. The Deputy Head of Mission from Pakistan, Mansoor Khan noted that they would provide 1,000 scholarships to universities in Pakistan in the areas of Agriculture, Science, and Business and further noted that they would also be willing to absorb additional students if donors could provide the funding. ¶7. (U) Both Norway and Japan said they fully supported the NHESP, although they were both unclear as to how they could materialize their support at this time other than Japan noting their interest in medical and agricultural education. India too expressed a desire to KABUL 00000633 002 OF 002 support PhD and Master's training in Agricultural fields through the provision of 100 scholarships each year for five years. The UNESCO representative noted that UNESCO would provide technical support in the area of planning, monitoring and evaluation, and strengthening of the Higher Education Management Information System (HEMIS) with stronger links to the universities. ¶8. (U) The French discussed their plan to double the number of scholarships they provide to Afghan students and to spend $1.5 million for cooperation on foreign language training. They also plan to provide assistance to the Faculty of Law of Kabul University and facilitate internships with French companies. The NATO-IS representative noted that NATO had three major programs that fit into the framework of the NHESP, which will focus on IT infrastructure. The Danes were especially interested in curriculum development and research. They also expressed interest in technical and vocational training as well as gender equity. They echo the USG in favoring direct funding of the Ministry of Finance (MoF),which can disburse funds to the MoHE. Denmark also supports the cluster process for aid and wants to see greater coherence between the ministries of education, higher education and health. THE USG PERSPECTIVE -------------- ¶9. (U) The USAID Mission Director applauded the MoHE for the NHESP and stated that the USG was honored to be a partner in the drafting process. He mentioned the pledge by President Obama to help rebuild Afghanistan and suggested that improved higher education was the best way to make progress. He noted that the USG would continue to support education, law, and medicine along with a number of other programs. He recalled the U.S. Ambassador's meeting with the Minister of Education Wardak, and how the Minister had noted that the lack of educational opportunities in Afghanistan is a ticking time bomb. The USAID Mission Director further noted that there is an urgent need for well-educated and trained leadership in all sectors of the economy and that the USG will be a partner in rebuilding higher education in Afghanistan. He concluded by calling on the private sector as well as other donors to invest in higher education through the NHESP and emphasized the importance of increasing the number of women in higher education. THE U.N. AND WORLD BANK -------------- ¶10. (U) Mark Ward, Special Advisor on Development to the SRSG (UNAMA) then summed up the need for donor support for the NHESP. He noted that the international community had applauded the Government of Afghanistan for their revised economic plan. He stated that time was of the essence since there was a demographic time bomb of people graduating from secondary school who wanted higher education, requiring expansion of the system. He noted that it had been two months since the inauguration of the NHESP on December 3rd (Reftel) and that support for implementation was now critical. He urged the donors to join the MoHE in forming a small working group to oversee implementation of the NHESP. He reiterated that the NHESP was an excellent roadmap for reform of higher education that only needed a strong donor commitment to make it work. ¶11. (U) The World Bank Director noted that higher education was extremely important to development with a rate of return of $3 on every $1 invested. Afghanistan only has 2% of its students of college age in higher education compared with India at 10% and China at 20%. The Director emphasized the importance of increasing training in science and math, the need to decrease the skills gap, and to increase both the quality and the quantity of graduates. He highlighted the need for non-government sources of funding for higher education, including fees from students. He stressed the importance of academic accreditation, institutional autonomy and accountability. He emphasized that donor support was vital and that the World Bank stood ready to work with the MoHE to support the implementation of the plan over the next five years. ¶12. (U) COMMENT: The new NHESP is a highly anticipated and important plan for coordinating donor support in higher education. A unique idea from which other sectors could also benefit, the plan is one of the first Post has seen where the Afghan Government identifies areas for targeted donor assistance. Although Post will support the NHESP through current programming, additional funding will be required to fully meet the important goals of the NHESP. There is an urgent need for well-educated and trained leadership in all sectors of the economy, which requires rebuilding higher education in Afghanistan. Afghanistan cannot successfully achieve its goals in reconstruction, economic growth, and poverty reduction if there is a critical shortage of professionals such as engineers, technicians, administrators, accountants, agriculturists, and business leaders. END COMMENT. EIKENBERRY