Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education is set to further rehabilitate and strengthen the quality of its education system by implementing the project “Strengthening Higher Education Program”(SHEP).
The program, funded by the World Bank, focuses on strengthening institutional development, standards and content development, training and professional development, study abroad programs, English language training, and an Afghan Master’s program that supports 12 core universities in Afghanistan and nine regional universities.
In 2008, MoHE-SHEP established a partnership with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). A total of seven Afghans have completed their higher education at AIT since then with 16 currently studying at the campus.
H.E. Prof. Obaidullah Obaid, Minister of Higher Education, Afghanistan visited AIT in October 2012 to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to affirm the current collaboration with the Institute. His Excellency also expressed MoHE’s desire to join the AIT Council. He then announced that Afghanistan wishes to send more than 100 students to study at the undergraduate level, and about 30-40 students for study at the master’s and doctoral degree programs.
MoHE also met with AIT Consulting (AITC) to discuss the need for a staff development program in order to boost the quality of faculty members in Afghanistan. In response, AITC plans to work with AIT Extension, a center that brings over 25 years of experience in training and continuing education, to organize two professional development programs on Basic Research Methodology and Quality Assurance for faculty members and research staff from Afghan universities in early 2013.
