Salam University Halts Operations After Demand to Hand Over Ownership or Close
Operations at private Salam University have been suspended. Officials at the institution say the Taliban administration’s ministries of justice and higher education had earlier asked the university’s owners to transfer ownership and management to the Ministry of Higher Education or stop educational activities.
Taliban officials have so far not publicly explained the reason for the suspension of Salam University’s operations. The move followed reviews into the composition of shareholders, ownership status and allegations of non-compliance with administrative and ideological regulations at private universities.
Salam University was established in 2009 as a higher education institute and was upgraded to university status in 2013. The institution operated in Kabul and Kunduz with faculties of Sharia, engineering, economics, law and political science, and computer science.
On 25 September this year, the Taliban administration’s Ministry of Higher Education revoked the operating licence of the private Khatam al-Nabiyyin (PBUH) University in Kabul and its branch in Ghazni, citing what it called violations of Islamic values. Earlier, reports had also emerged of notices, suspensions and licence revocations involving Dawat University and a number of other private higher education centres; allegations in these cases included the presence of “ghost students”, administrative corruption and failure to follow new religious guidelines.
Some informed sources and private-sector activists say checks on the composition of university owners and financial status go beyond educational oversight and are intended to pressure these institutions into handing over management or their shares. Taliban officials have not publicly addressed these claims.
