Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Tuesday, March 19th, 2024

Khwaja Omari Admits Some Private Varsities Underperforming

Khwaja Omari Admits Some Private Varsities  Underperforming

KABUL -Higher Education Minister Najibullah Khwaja Omari on Monday said the performance of some of the 169 private universities and colleges in Afghanistan had been unsatisfactory .
Omar appeared before Wolesi Jirga or lower house of the parliament to brief lawmakers about problems in public and private universities and higher educational institutes.
The lawmakers highlighted issues associated with the private sector university such as employment of unprofessional teachers and sales of diplomas.
Lawmaker Kamal Nasar Osoli, who heads the house education and higher education commission said that the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) had not reacted to private higher educational institutes showing poor performance over the last three years.
He said currently 100 new higher education institutes that had passed all legal processes were not allowed to function.
Minister Omari said 131 private higher educational institutes were opened after the activation of the Private Higher Educational Institutes Department in 2006 operating alongside 28 government universities.
Apart from institutes being run by Afghans, a number of foreign higher education institutes also opened and offered education up to master’s degree, Omari added.
“The private educational institutes well developed in numbers, but the performance of some is unsatisfactory,” he said.
Keeping in view the lack of professional lecturers, libraries, dormitories and presence of old curriculum, a new mechanism would be developed and implemented in future, the minister said.
Omari said opening more private higher educational institutes was suspended following a presidential order and currently 170 requests for opening such institutes were awaiting approval.
Issuing licenses to more institutes would remain suspended until an ongoing assessment of the current higher educational institutes and universities was completed, he added.
About protests by students of private higher educational institutes against not receiving their diplomas, he said: “We cannot give diplomas to imaginary students, but this service would be resumed once the assessment process is complete.”
Barai Seddiqi, deputy higher education minister, said the draft plan for beginning of master’s degree courses in the country’s varsities had been shared with the Ministry of Justice and the Higher Education Ministry was trying to implement the plan.
Speaker Abdur Raouf Ibrahimi called the minister’s explanations as unsatisfactory and said his ministry should issue licenses to private higher educational institutes that had passed legal steps. (Pajhwok)