ALO NewsBRIEFS 4:1 Afghan Minister

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ALO Hosts Afghanistan's Minister of Higher Education
By Michelle Wright and Tony Wagner

On October 4, 2002, Afghanistan's Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Sharif Fayez, visited ALO with a delegation from Purdue University to discuss a new partnership between Purdue and Kabul University, which was funded during ALO’s Cycle 2002 grant competition.

The partnership will focus on the capacity building of Kabul University, the community, and other regional institutions as Afghanistan undergoes an intensive period of reconstruction, with the ultimate goals of developing distance-learning capabilities at Kabul University, training faculty, building computer laboratories, and instituting a Joint Center for Reconstruction Coordination, Analysis, and Policy.

Dr. Fayez was accompanied to ALO by
Dr. F.T. Sparrow, Professor of Industrial Engineering and Chairman of the Purdue

Afghanistan Project Committee, and several Purdue faculty members: Dr. Zarjon Baha, Department of Building Construction

Afghan Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Sharif Fayez, during a visit to ALO to discuss higher education partnerships in Afghanistan.

Management; Michael Dyrenfurth, Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies in the School of Technology; and, Dr. Ray Eberts, the Director of Continuing Engineering Education.
Mr. Gary Bittner and Mr. Martin Hewitt from USAID’s Higher Education and Workforce Development Office also attended the meeting.

Minister Fayez discussed the current state of higher education in Afghanistan and expressed his pleasure that the partnership with Purdue received funding. The creation of a strong higher education sector is essential to successful community and institutional development in Afghanistan.

The training and education of teachers, doctors, and engineers will in turn encourage economic and institutional development. The Minister also expressed the desire to develop community colleges throughout Afghanistan to serve the needs of those unable to travel to university centers.

At the meeting, partners outlined their plans for establishing computer labs, which will include the donation of computer equipment to Kabul and other regional institutions, as well as the planned training and professional development of Afghan faculty in areas of teacher education, engineering, agriculture, administration, and technology.

ALO Executive Director and Dr. Fayez discuss the Purdue University/Kabul University partnership.

The partnership between Purdue University and Kabul University is built on

ten years of successful cooperation during the 1960s and 1970s, prior to the Soviet invasion. The ALO grant marks the reinstatement of this partnership, which will contribute considerably to the development of Afghan higher education institutional capacity.

For more information on the Purdue University/Kabul University partnership, contact ALO Program Associate Michelle Wright.

Send questions to ALO.