![Saleha Bayat Building at AUAF in Kabul-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Saleha_Bayat_Building_at_AUAF_in_Kabul-2.jpg)
Education in Afghanistan includes
K–12
K–12, from kindergarten to 12th grade, is an American English expression that indicates the range of years of publicly supported primary and secondary education found in the United States, which is similar to publicly supported school grade ...
and
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
,
which is under the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
and
Ministry of Higher Education
{{Unreferenced, date=March 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
A Ministry of Higher Education is a government department that focuses on the provision or regulation of institutions of higher education. In some countries these exist as ministries compounde ...
. In 2021, there were nearly 10 million students and 220,000 teachers in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. The nation still requires more
schools
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
and teachers. Soon after the
Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021, they banned girls from secondary education. In December 2022, the Taliban government also prohibited university education and
primary education
Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...
for
females in Afghanistan, sparking protests and international condemnation.
According to Acting Education Minister
Noorullah Munir, "Afghanistan has 20,000 official schools in which 9,000 are of no use, 5,000 have no building and the remaining 4,000 needed rehabilitation."
Compulsory education in Afghanistan is through the ninth grade.
"The academic year consists of 2 semesters, and runs from March to January."
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, officials under the
Islamic Emirate
An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...
have suspended formal education to teenage girls.
The suspensions did not initially apply to female students of grade 1 to 6, but has since been extended to younger girls.
Some of the major
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
in Afghanistan are the
American University of Afghanistan
The American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) ( fa, ; ps, ) is an Afghan private university located in the Darulaman section of Kabul. Most students of AUAF currently live abroad and there are plans to create a new AUAF campus in Qatar in the ...
,
Kabul University
Kabul University (KU; prs, دانشگاه کابل, translit= Dāneshgāh-e-Kābul; ps, د کابل پوهنتون, translit=Da Kābul Pohantūn) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd ...
,
Kabul Polytechnic University,
Al-Beroni University
Alberoni University (AU; fa, دانشگاه البیرونی; ps , د البیروني پوهنتون) is located in the small town of Kohistan (population range of under 2,500 inhabitants), Kapisa Province, Afghanistan, about 64 km no ...
,
Kardan University
Kardan University ( ps, کاردان پوهنتون / fa, دانشگاه کاردان) founded in 2002 in Kabul, Afghanistan is the first privately owned university in Afghanistan. It began its operations in a small classroom with 15 student ...
,
Balkh University
Balkh University ( fa, دانشگاه بلخ; ps, د بلخ پوهنتون) is a public university located in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of Balkh Province in northern Afghanistan. Established in 1986, the university has about 18,000 students and is ...
,
Herat University,
Nangarhar University
Nangarhar University ( ps, د ننګرهار پوهنتون) is a government-funded higher learning institution in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. It is the second largest university in Afghanistan. It has 13 colleges and 15,385 students.
Nangarhar Uni ...
,
Shaikh Zayed University
Shaikh Zayed University (SZU; ps, ), also known as Khost University ( ps, ), is a public university in the city of Khost, southeastern Afghanistan. With its original name "Afghan University Peshawar", it was initially established in 2000 in Pe ...
,
Kandahar University
, image = Kandahar University logo.png
, caption =
, latin_name =
, motto =
, established = 1990
, closed =
, type = Public
, affiliation =
, endowment =
, officer_in_charge =
, chairman =
, chancellor = Dr. Abdul Wahid Waseeq
, ...
,
Bost University,
Paktia University
Paktia University ( ps, د پکتيا پوهنتون) is a public higher education institution in Gardez, Afghanistan. Its current chancellor is Dr. Sayed Wali Jalalzai. According to him, approximately 8,500 students are enrolled in Paktia Univ ...
,
Kunduz University
Kunduz University ( fa, پوهنتون قندوز, ps, د کندز پوهنتون) is located in Kunduz province Afghanistan. It was established as a teacher training center in 1967, and became an institution of higher learning in 1994.
Kund ...
,
Badakhshan University
Badakhshan University (built in 1996) ( fa, دانشگاه بدخشان) is located in Badakhshan province, northeastern Afghanistan. Established in 1988, Badakhshan University is a non-profit public higher education institution located in the ...
, and
Ghazni University.
History
![Afghan students learn English](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Afghan_students_learn_English.jpg)
One of the oldest schools in Afghanistan is the
Habibia High School
Habibia High School ( fa, لیسه عالی حبیبیه) is a school in southwestern Kabul, Afghanistan which has educated many of the former and current Afghan elite, including President Ashraf Ghani and musician Ahmad Zahir. It was founded by K ...
in Kabul, which was built by King
Habibullah Khan
Habibullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 3 June 1872 – 20 February 1919) was the Emir of Afghanistan from 1901 until his death in 1919. He was the eldest son of the Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, whom he succeeded by right of primogeniture in October 1901 ...
in 1903 to educate students from the nation's elite class. In the 1920s, the German-funded
Amani High School
Amani High School, also known in German as , ( prs, لیسه عالی امانی) is a school in Kabul (District 10), Afghanistan. From the time of its founding in 1924 until 1985, Amani High School was recognized as one of the elite schools in K ...
opened in Kabul, and about a decade later two French
lycée
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
s (secondary schools) began, the
AEFE
The Agency for French Education Abroad, or Agency for French Teaching Abroad, (french: Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger; abbreviation: AEFE), is a national public agency under the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ...
and the
Lycée Esteqlal
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
.
Kabul University
Kabul University (KU; prs, دانشگاه کابل, translit= Dāneshgāh-e-Kābul; ps, د کابل پوهنتون, translit=Da Kābul Pohantūn) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd ...
was established in 1932.
Education was improved under the rule of
King Zahir Shah
Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...
between 1933 and 1973,
[Afghanistan country profile]
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Federal Research Division
The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress.
The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...
(May 2006). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
. making primary schools available to about half the population who were younger than 12 years of age and expanding the secondary school system and Kabul University. Of the 10.3 billion Afghans. spent on the first "Five Year Plan" (1956-1962), "7.7% was appropriated for education and health as compared to 49.5% for transportation and communication, 26.5% on industrial development, 12.6% for agriculture, and 3.8% for miscellaneous development works." By the end of the program, "the number of students (primary, secondary, and vocational) rising from 96.34 to 169.06 per 10,000 of population. The number of students receiving higher education per 10,000 of population, rose from 0.66 to 1.44, and construction of a new campus for the Kabul University was taken in hand. After the Taliban took over in 2021, the number of students acquiring higher education per 10,000 people decreased substantially. This is due to lost of jobs of their tuition supporters who were in the previous government. Many of the students also fled the country.
![Herat University-2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Herat_University-2012.jpg)
During the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992.
The PDPA came to power ...
, the government of the
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) reformed the education system; education was stressed for both sexes, and widespread literacy programs were set up.
After the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001, the
Karzai administration
Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repu ...
received substantial international aid to restore the education system. Around 7,000 schools were operating in 20 of the 32 provinces by the end of 2003, with 27,000 teachers teaching 4.2 million children (including 1.2 million girls).
Of that number, about 3.9 million were in primary schools.
An estimated 57 percent of men and 86 percent of women were reported to be illiterate, and the lack of skilled and educated workers was a major economic disadvantage.
When Kabul University reopened in 2002, some 24,000 male and female students enrolled for higher education.
In the meantime, five other universities were being rehabilitated. Public school curricula have included religious subjects but detailed instruction is left to religious teachers.
![Lincoln Learning Center in Ghazni](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Lincoln_Learning_Center_in_Ghazni.jpg)
By 2006, over 4 million male and female students were enrolled in schools throughout Afghanistan. At the same time school facilities or institutions were also being refurbished or improved, with more modern-style schools being built each year. The
American University of Afghanistan
The American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) ( fa, ; ps, ) is an Afghan private university located in the Darulaman section of Kabul. Most students of AUAF currently live abroad and there are plans to create a new AUAF campus in Qatar in the ...
(AUAF) in Kabul was established in 2006. Other universities were renovated or rebuilt, such as
Kandahar University
, image = Kandahar University logo.png
, caption =
, latin_name =
, motto =
, established = 1990
, closed =
, type = Public
, affiliation =
, endowment =
, officer_in_charge =
, chairman =
, chancellor = Dr. Abdul Wahid Waseeq
, ...
in the south,
Nangarhar University
Nangarhar University ( ps, د ننګرهار پوهنتون) is a government-funded higher learning institution in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. It is the second largest university in Afghanistan. It has 13 colleges and 15,385 students.
Nangarhar Uni ...
and
Khost University
Shaikh Zayed University (SZU; ps, ), also known as Khost University ( ps, ), is a public university in the city of Khost, southeastern Afghanistan. With its original name "Afghan University Peshawar", it was initially established in 2000 in Pe ...
in the east,
Herat University in the west and
Balkh University
Balkh University ( fa, دانشگاه بلخ; ps, د بلخ پوهنتون) is a public university located in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of Balkh Province in northern Afghanistan. Established in 1986, the university has about 18,000 students and is ...
in the north. Despite these achievements, there were still significant obstacles to education in Afghanistan, many of which stem from a lack of funding. Planning curricula and school programs is difficult for the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
because a significant amount of the budget for education comes from external donors, making it difficult to predict the annual budget.
The obstacles to education were even more numerous for Afghan girls. Afghanistan's then Education Minister,
Mohammad Hanif Atmar
Mohammad Haneef Atmar (Pashto: محمد حنیف اتمر; born 10 September 1968) is the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a former Interior Minister of Afghanistan. He was removed from the Ministry of Interior Affairs by Hamid Karzai in ...
, said in 2007 that 60% of students were studying in tents or other unprotected structures, and some parents refused to let their daughters attend schools in such conditions.
In 2009, another concern was the destruction of schools by the Taliban, especially schools for females. Following the destruction of over 150 schools in a year, many parents had doubts about the government's ability to protect them.
The following achievements were made in the first decade of the 2000s:
* Between 2001 and 2016, primary school enrollment rose from around 1 million to 9.2 million (a nine-fold increase in fifteen years) and the proportion of girls from virtually zero to 37%. UNESCO estimates that 129 million females are out of school around the world, with 32 million in primary school and 97 million in secondary school.
* The number of teachers in general education has risen sevenfold, but their qualifications are low. About 31% are women.
* Between 2003 and 2011, over 5,000 school buildings were rehabilitated or newly constructed. Just over 50% of schools have usable buildings.
Enrollment is low: The average is 1,983 students per institution; three institutions have fewer than 200 students. Furthermore, there is a deficiency of qualified faculty members: only 4.7% (166 of total 3,522) of the teaching staff held a Ph.D. In “addition to problems of inadequate resources, and lack of qualified teaching staff are issues of corruption.”
In 2010, the United States began establishing Lincoln Learning Centers in Afghanistan. They serve as programming platforms offering English language classes, library facilities, programming venues, Internet connectivity, educational and other counseling services. A goal of the program is to reach at least 4,000 Afghan citizens per month per location.
According to the
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...
, in 2011, Afghanistan was the
15th least developed country in the world.
In 2009 and 2010, a 5,000 OLPC –
One Laptop Per Child schools deployment took place in Kandahar with funding from an anonymous foundation. The OLPC team seeks local support to undertake a larger deployment.
In June 2011, officials from the United States signed a joint statement with Education Minister
Ghulam Farooq Wardak
Ghulam Farooq Wardak (born 1959) is a politician in Afghanistan, formerly serving as the Minister of Education. He was appointed to that position by Afghan President Hamid Karzai on October 11, 2008.
Early life
Farooq Wardak was born in the Say ...
to expand opportunities for direct financial support from USAID to the Afghan Ministry of Education. In December 2011, the ''
Baghch-e-Simsim'' (Afghan version of ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'')
children's television series
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
was launched in Afghanistan. It is funded by the
U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
and is produced in consultation with
Afghanistan's Ministry of Education. The project is designed to help educate Afghans from pre-school stage and onward.
It was reported in May 2013 that there were 16,000 schools across Afghanistan, with 10.5 million students. Education Minister Wardak stated that 3 million children remained deprived of education and requested $3 billion to construct 8,000 additional schools over the next two years.
Afghanistan’s story in education is still confronted by major challenges. Three and a half million children – 75% of them girls – are still out of school. Poverty, the lack of qualified female teachers in rural schools (which is especially linked to girls' education), and substandard school facilities all account for low enrollment. Furthermore, nearly half of all schools do not have a building or facilities.
Education for female students
![Sardar-e-Kabuli High School in 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Sardar-e-Kabuli_High_School_in_2014.jpg)
Historically, students of every gender and ethnic background have been enrolled in public schools. By 1978, women made up 40 percent of the doctors and 60 percent of the teachers at
Kabul University
Kabul University (KU; prs, دانشگاه کابل, translit= Dāneshgāh-e-Kābul; ps, د کابل پوهنتون, translit=Da Kābul Pohantūn) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd ...
; 440,000 female students were enrolled in educational institutions and 80,000 more in literacy programs. Despite improvements, a large percentage of the population remained illiterate.
Not only was the constitution of the government styled after that of the Soviet Union, but also changes in academia started to resemble the Soviet approach to education. However, during the
Taliban's first period of rule (1996–2001), girls could not receive formal education.
In 2015 at
Kabul University
Kabul University (KU; prs, دانشگاه کابل, translit= Dāneshgāh-e-Kābul; ps, د کابل پوهنتون, translit=Da Kābul Pohantūn) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd ...
the first master's degree course in gender and women’s studies in Afghanistan began.
When the Taliban returned to power there were concerns that access to education, especially for the female population, would be heavily set back. Though the Taliban claimed that it respected their rights. An issue later began that resulted in temporary suspension of females attending schools.
This move would later be criticized by some Pakistani clerics. As of August 2022, teenage girls and female teachers are still prevented from returning to secondary schools. They are also developing a new curriculum for all students. On the 20 December 2022, women were banned from University education, the next day from education in elementary school.
A lack of women teachers was another issue that concerned some parents, especially in more conservative areas. Some parents were not allowing their daughters to be taught by men. But this often meant that girls were not allowed to attend school, as the international aid agency
Oxfam
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
History
Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...
reported in 2007 that about one quarter of Afghan teachers were women.
On 20 December 2022, the Taliban banned women from attending universities in Afghanistan, sparking protests and international condemnation. This decision followed the exclusion of girls from secondary schools since the Taliban came to power the previous year. The
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
and several countries condemned the move.
Challenges to education development
Violence and sexual abuse
Afghanistan has been one of the countries worst affected by violence against educational institutions, with 770 incidents of attacks on education in 2008. Violence against students prevented nearly 5 million Afghan children from attending school in 2010. The country saw 439 teachers, education employees, and students killed between 2006 and 2009, one of the highest death rates in the world.
Women were fearful of attending institutions of primary, secondary, or tertiary education as a result of increased rates of sexual harassment and violence. According to the Ministry of Public Health in Afghanistan, these occurrences have resulted in significantly higher rates of suicide, as the number of casualties exceed the number of war deaths. Evidently, not only is the physical health of women threatened by instances of sexual assault, but also their mental well-being, as many become depressed and suffer from low self-esteem.
Teacher credentials
Since 2002, up to 6 million girls and boys started attending school. In 2012, the supply of students far exceeded the pool of qualified teachers.
[Transitions Online (TOL) Chalkboard. http://chalkboard.tol.org/afghanistan. Retrieved 10 February 2012.] According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Education, 80 percent of the country’s 165,000 teachers had achieved the equivalent of a high school education or did not complete their post-secondary studies.
In addition to the aforementioned limitations in the adequacy of educators who are available to provide an effective education for the Afghan population, the current government continues to place bans on female teachers that would inhibit them from participating. This regulation is founded upon the Islamic interpretation of Sharia law that requires women to be accompanied by a Mehram, or male relative such as their father, husband, or son, when present in public. Firing thousands of female teachers not only makes it more difficult for women to feel comfortable attending educational institutions, but also strengthens gendered stereotypes that characterize women as being sensitive and weak, and therefore, unable to be active members of society.
Curriculum
Since 2002, under the combined efforts of Afghan and international experts, the curriculum has been changed from Islamic teachings; there are new books and better training. Yet, there remains no standard curriculum for secondary school textbooks, and high school textbooks remain woefully inadequate in number and content. The current government of Afghanistan stated repeatedly that students must be taught according to Islamic law, without elaborating on what that entails. The government reassured the public, as well as the international community, that it will reopen schools in rural and urban areas to both male and female students. Nonetheless, there has been a suspension of such efforts as officials in charge of education claim to be waiting for the development of new curriculum that will focus less on secular subjects, such as mathematics or science, and rather on Islamic studies. Furthermore, the educators responsible for operating educational institutions lack the formal training to teach advanced curriculum in schools, discouraging families from ensuring their children ultimately earn degrees with which they may enter the labor force.
Infrastructure
In 2012, there were insufficient schools. Around 4,500 schools are being built according to a recent government report. 40 percent of schools were housed in permanent buildings. The rest held classes in UNICEF shelters or were "desert schools" with students and teachers gathering in the desert near a village.
Child labor
In 2007, more than half of the population of Afghanistan was under the age of 18. UNICEF estimates that close to a quarter of Afghan children between the ages of seven and fourteen were working.
[United Nations (UN). http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22952&Cr=afghan&Cr1= Retrieved 10 February 2012] In rural areas, the problem is worse, and there are more girls working than boys.
This disrupts children's education and possibly prevents them from attending school completely. The number of working children has increased recently. According to a Save the Children report, an estimated one million children are currently involved in child labor in Afghanistan as family finances have collapsed in the last six months.
See also
*
List of universities in Afghanistan
The following is an incomplete list of universities in Afghanistan, sorted by province and in alphabetical order.
Balkh Province
Herat Province
Kabul Province
Kandahar Province
Khost Province
Kunar Province
Kunduz Province
Lag ...
*
Higher education in Afghanistan
Higher education in Afghanistan, including post-secondary education, third stage, third level or tertiary education, falls under the Ministry of Higher Education which establishes government policies to reform higher education at Afghan universiti ...
*
List of schools in Afghanistan
This list of schools located in Afghanistan includes the country's primary school, primary and secondary schools. According to the Ministry of Education (Afghanistan), Afghan Ministry of Education, there are approximately 18,000 schools across Afgh ...
*
Afghanistan Scout Association
The Afghanistan National Scout Organization ( ps, د افغانستان څارندوی ټولنه ''Da Afghānistan Sārandoy Tolena'', usually shortened to ''Zarandoi'') was officially founded in 1931 in Afghanistan by a royal decree. The site ...
*
Help Afghan School Children Organization
Help Afghan School Children Organization (HASCO) is a Vienna-based non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the promotion of education of Afghan disadvantaged children. HASCO was founded in 2002 by an Afghan humanitarian Hafizullah Kha ...
References
External links
Education Plans and Policies in Afghanistan Planipolis, IIEP-UNESCO
Vocational Education and training in Afghanistan UNESCO-UNEVOC(TVET database)
Encyclopædia Iranica
{{Education in Asia