Afghan HE grows tenfold

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12 december 2011 | Over the last 7 years, Afghanistan’s student population increased tenfold with a 30% share of them female. Foreign universities open local campus despite security issues due to the ongoing Taliban insurgency.

26 state and 50 private institutes bring higher education toAfghanistan. Within the last 7 years, enrolment numbers have exploded tenfold to a total of 128.000.Particularly good news for the West, women make up a share of 30%of this growing student population.

Despite this growing interest, Afghanistan’s security forces andNATO still face a persistent Taliban insurgency. “Some provinces’schools and universities are closed because of the uneasysituation. But in the country’s capital, Kabul, you can clearly seehow the youth are aspiring for new knowledge,” comments AbdurrahimNurbakhsh from the Higher Education Ministry.

As public universities struggle to accommodate the increasingdemand for higher education, private institutes start filling thevacuum. Even European universities create local campuses to fosterthis development. Only in 2009, the Swiss University of Management,Economics and Finance (UMEF) opened the Dunya Institute for Higher Education inKabul.

“We teach in Persian [Dari] and in English. All of ourprofessors are from Switzerland, Singapore and France. All of ourclassrooms are equipped according to European standards,” statedDunya’s Deputy Administrator Muhammad Yaqub Nuri.