KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Saturday called for reforms in university entry test to bring them at par with international standards.
The current entry test called Kankor was based on old methods that made it difficult for even talented student to pass, depriving them of higher education, Karzai told a three-day seminar on reforms in education system.
He said keeping in view the weaknesses in the entry system, the president wanted it to be revised.

He said students should be divided into two major fields – science and arts – from class 9th like the education system during Mohammad Daud Khan's era.
Students of engineering and medicine faculties should be taught in English, German or French because they would be able to study science books in those languages, Karzai said, adding that sending students to foreign countries for higher studies was another way to develop the country.

About $5 million were spent on scholarship program last year, where 700 students were sent abroad for higher education, he said, adding that million were being set aside for the program this year and another 5 million for the following year to enable nearly 1,000 students go abroad to pursue higher education.

The president said they would allocate up to $40 million each year for students' scholarship program in coming years and awarding scholarships would be done in a transparent method.
"Education sector and universities are not places to be used for politics and discrimination, but for developing personalities of youth," he said. (Pajhwok)