Taliban’s Higher Education Minister Vows to Improve Quality of Afghanistan’s Academic System
The Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education has stated that he has personally devoted a great deal of time to thinking and planning to raise the quality of Afghanistan’s educational system, even sacrificing his sleep. Mullah Neda Mohammad Nadim made these remarks during a meeting in Kandahar, discussing efforts to reform higher education.
He added that the Taliban-led Higher Education Department plans to invite professors from neighboring countries to teach at Afghan universities, especially Kabul University. According to him, this initiative aims to strengthen the scientific and educational capacity of academic institutions.
Nadim emphasized the importance of knowledge and science, saying that societal progress and development can only be achieved through education. He claimed that the Taliban administration is striving to enhance and sustain this process.
This comes weeks after documents were published in the media revealing that the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education had appointed and invited several Pakistani professors to Kabul University with high financial incentives and special facilities.
Critics remind that since the Taliban takeover, hundreds of educated professionals, doctors, and university professors have been forced to leave Afghanistan, creating a gap that is now being filled by hiring foreign professors, especially from Pakistan. This approach has sparked widespread negative reactions among Afghan citizens.
Some residents of Kabul and other provinces have expressed that instead of utilizing the potential of Afghan academic staff, the Taliban administration has sidelined them, instead employing foreign professors with high salaries. Critics believe this move further weakens the country’s higher education system.
