Private universities meet rising demand for education

Afghan authorities announced recently that more than 130,000 students, a third of them female, had passed exams to enter university in the upcoming academic year, bringing into focus Afghanistan's challenge to rebuild its education system, reports World Bulletin.

The once heavily centralised public education system is now witnessing a new development, that of private colleges and universities with various specialisations that have sprung up in major urban centres, including Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.

With state institutions struggling to cope with increasing demand, private universities have filled a gap for the growing number of students gaining the marks required in the ‘Kankor’ admission test that allows them to study for subjects like medicine and engineering. Usman Babari, the Interim Minister for Higher Education, said while announcing the ‘Kankor’ results that state facilities cannot entertain all of the successful candidates.

“Out of the successful candidates, 92,000 students will be given admission in state universities and institutions for higher and bachelor level studies, while around 40,000 students will be referred to the private sector,” he said.
Full report on the World Bulletin site