Ministry of Higher Education: Curriculum Review 70% Completed

December 4, 2023
Nazir Shinwari
Tolo News
4 Dec 2023
Some students said that the curriculum should be reviewed based on global standards.

The Ministry of Higher Education said the curriculum review is 70 percent complete. 

The head of the curriculum department of the MoHE, Abdul Rauf Farahi, stated that the purpose of the review of the curriculum is to make the curriculum compatible with international standards.

“There are fields of medicine, computer science, agriculture, engineering, and science such as chemistry, physics, biology, social sciences, and journalism, the revision work of several fields has been finalized, and work is ongoing…,” said Abdul Rauf Farahi.

According to Farahi, more than a hundred academic staff are working in various fields, and the review of 73 fields has been finalized and the review of 35 fields still remains.

“The purpose of reviewing and developing the academic curriculum is renewal, and considering religious and national values and international standards in the academic curriculum,” said Abdul Rauf Farahi.

Some students said that the curriculum should be reviewed based on global standards.

“In public and private universities, the curriculum is very old, and we ask the Ministry of Higher Education to review the curriculum carefully,” said Mohammad Anwar Bahir, a student.

“We welcome the initiative of the Ministry of Higher Education to review and develop the academic curriculum and serious efforts should be made in the field,” said Obaid Sarwari, a student.

Meanwhile, the current government’s cabinet has assigned the task of reviewing the academic curriculum to the appointed committee.

Ministry of Higher Education: Curriculum Review 70% Completed
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Afghan Opposition Leaders Meet for 2nd Day in Vienna

December 4, 2023
Mitra Majeedy
Tolo News
4 Dec 2023

But the Islamic Emirate urged the host countries to prevent such meetings on their territory.

The second day of a meeting of opposition leaders and foreign diplomats was held in Vienna, where participants discussed the extension of cooperation, diplomatic movements and a political roadmap for the future of Afghanistan.

The diplomats were from the US, UK, Austria, Germany, Spain and Norway.

“Today, there was a free discussion and suggestions were made for a roadmap to solve the crisis of Afghanistan,” said Sayed Baqir Mohseni, a participant.

The meeting is the third being held by the Islamic Emirate’s opposition recently.

Some political analysts said that negotiations between the interim Afghan government and its opposition are the only way for improvement of the situation in the country.

“The path to solution is the intra-Afghan dialogue to codify a constitution and form an inclusive and national government,” said Sayed Jawad Sijadi, a political analyst.

“The world has many expectations from us to reach an engagement with the international community,” said Zakiullah Mohammadi, a political analyst.

But the Islamic Emirate urged the host countries to prevent such meetings on their territory.

“Anyone who is disturbing the current peace and security and betraying our people — we want the countries to not allow such meetings to take place because it is hostility with the people of Afghanistan,” said Suhail Shaheen, head of the Islamic Emirate’s political office in Qatar.

Earlier, a similar meeting of Herat Security Dialogue was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where the participants discussed the ongoing situation of Afghanistan.

Afghan Opposition Leaders Meet for 2nd Day in Vienna
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Lack of Women Noted at Herat University Graduation

December 4, 2023
By Nasir Ahmad Salehi
TOLOnews Reporter
3 Dec 2023

Nadim indicated to the meeting of the opposition of the Islamic Emirate abroad, urging them to return to the country.

The graduation ceremony at Herat university was held without the presence of any female students.

The graduates meanwhile expressed concerns about lack of job opportunities in the country and called on the interim Afghan government to provide the youth with job opportunities.

“I hope the job opportunities will be provided to all of the students who graduated today,” said Mohammad Farakhi, a graduate.

“I call on the Islamic Emirate to resume female education,” said Mohammad Esa Momand, a graduate.

The ceremony was attended by the acting Minister of Higher Education, Nida Mohammad Nadim.

Speaking at the ceremony, Nadim stressed the improvement of universities’ standards.

Nadim indicated to the meeting of the opposition of the Islamic Emirate abroad, urging them to return to the country.

“They held a meeting in one or another country. Why? What do they want? What is the agenda of your meeting when you hold it in another country?” he said.

Meanwhile, the female students called on the Islamic Emirate to reopen their universities.

The students said that they are facing an uncertain situation.

“Just because I was a girl, I have been pushed back from everywhere but the boys were able to receive the reward of their years of struggle,” said Wahida Durrani, a student.

However, the interim government said that it has been making efforts to provide job opportunities for the graduates.

“Our officials are working day and night to create jobs for the youth who are graduating,” said Hayatullah Mahajar Farahi, deputy Minister of Information and Culture.

Nadim emphasized that all universities need to be provided with libraries and laboratories.

Lack of Women Noted at Herat University Graduation
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Education Minister Criticizes Poor Quality of Religious Schools

December 4, 2023
By TOLOnews
TV Network
3 Dec 2023

A number of graduates asked the Islamic Emirate to provide them with employment opportunities in the country.

The Acting Minister of Education, Habibullah Agha, criticized the poor quality of education in religious schools in the country.

By expressing his concerns about this issue, Habibullah Agha asked the Islamic Emirate and religious scholars to pay serious attention to raising the quality of education in religious schools.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of about 120 students from Darul-Ulom Imam Abu Hanifa’s 12th and 14th grades, the Acting Minister of Education said that the number of religious schools has increased in comparison to the past and that students are given good facilities in this area.

“In my point of view, the quality of education is becoming weaker day by day, although seeking education has become easier. There was a time that students could not find a book,” Habibullah Agha noted.

Meanwhile, the officials of Darul-Ulom Imam Abu Hanifa stressed improving the quality of education in religious schools, saying that not only religious sciences are taught in this Darul-Ulom, but also contemporary sciences.

“In our Darul Ulom, not only religious sciences but also contemporary sciences are taught, so these graduates, in addition to religious sciences, also include students from contemporary sciences, and today about 120 people graduated from this Darul Ulom,” said Abdulhai, head of the Imam Abu Hanifa Darul-Ulom.

A number of Imam Abu Hanifa Darul-Ulom graduates from the 12th and 14th grades asked the Islamic Emirate to provide them with employment opportunities in the country.

“There is no equivalency between knowledge and ignorance. So, we must study and be educated. Those young people who are educated and talented, the Islamic Emirate must provide them with work,” a graduate said.

About four thousand students are now have enrolled to study religious and modern sciences at Darul-Ulom Imam Abu Hanifa, which was established in the Bagrami district of Kabul province in 1323 solar year, according to official records.

Education Minister Criticizes Poor Quality of Religious Schools
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UN to Hold Meeting on Afghanistan This Month

December 4, 2023
Naveed Samadi 
Tolo News
3 Dec 2023

This comes as the Islamic Emirate said that the meetings without the presence of its envoys will be meaningless.

The UN Security Council said in a statement that it will convene for its quarterly open briefing on Afghanistan in December.

According to the statement, the special representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Roza Otunbayeva; Ambassador José de la Gasca (Ecuador), the Chair of the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee; and a representative of civil society are expected to brief.

Sayed Ishaq Gailani, head of the National Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan said: “They should take fundamental action to benefit Afghanistan in the future, not to addict them [Islamic Emirate] with food assistance.”

“The meeting could be beneficial in case it brings a mechanism for stability in Afghanistan and recognition of Afghanistan and specifying the status of Afghanistan,” said Sayed Muqdam Amin, a political analyst.

This comes as the Islamic Emirate said that the meetings without the presence of its envoys will be meaningless.

Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that the international community is trying to put political pressure on the Islamic Emirate. “Unfortunately, the world has politicized all humanitarian, climate change and economic issues and they want to use all of the issues as a political tool, which is not right,” he said.

In an earlier document accessed by TOLOnews, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres recommended a roadmap for reintegration of Afghanistan into the international community.

UN to Hold Meeting on Afghanistan This Month
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HRW Raises Concerns About Arrests of Women in Afghanistan

December 3, 2023
TOLOnews
TV Network
2 Dec 2023

Some women’s rights activists are calling for the release of the protesting women.

Human Rights Watch has expressed concern about the current situation of activist women in Afghanistan and said that the arrests, threats, and suppression of women are still ongoing.

A report published by Human Rights Watch expressed concern about the continued detention of female protesters, including Julia Parsi, Manijeh Sediqi, Neda Parwani, and Parisa Azada.

“These are four women’s rights activists arbitrarily detained by the Taliban right now. Remember their names. But please also remember that there are many more in custody who have not been named.

You haven’t heard of most of the detained women. Families are terrified into concealing their arrests, hoping silence might buy their release or reduce abuses in custody,” said Human Rights Watch.

However, the Islamic Emirate said that some women have been arrested to prevent the implementation of foreign programs and to maintain public security. “Seizure does not mean that we silence someone’s voice or that someone is oppressed; It is for the sake of maintaining public security and preventing external conspiracies from happening in Afghanistan,” said Mujahid.

Some women’s rights activists are calling for the release of the protesting women.

“The goal of women’s rights activists and those who took to the streets was to be able to hear the voices of Afghan women for the world,” said Hwaida Hadis, a women’s rights activist.

“The women who were arrested did not have any anti-government and security activities, they only wanted Afghan women and girls to study,” said Sonam Latif, a women’s rights activist.

After the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate in the country, some women took to the streets in the capital and other provinces and started protests demanding women’s right to education and work in the country.

HRW Raises Concerns About Arrests of Women in Afghanistan
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Power in Afghanistan in the Hands of Religious Scholars

December 3, 2023
Fatema Adee
Tolo News
2 Dec 2023
Haqqani said that the power in Afghanistan is now in the hands of religious scholars and they understand the interests and priorities of the country.

The acting Interior Minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, in a meeting with a delegation of scholars from Islamic countries, discussed a range of topics including security, economic stability and construction in the country.

During the meeting, Haqqani said that the power in Afghanistan is now in the hands of religious scholars and they understand the interests and priorities of the country.

The acting Interior Minister also mentioned the fight of the Islamic Emirate against the production, cultivation and smuggling of drugs and the treatment of drug addicts.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has had good achievements in the past two years in the area of fighting against narcotics, the treatment of addicts, the fight against corruption, ensuring security all over the country, and also stability and economic growth,” said Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesman of the ministry.

According to some political analysts, the visit of the delegation of Islamic countries with the officials of the Islamic Emirate can be effective in solving some the challenges of the country.

“It is the responsibility of the Islamic countries, and the international community, to pay attention to Afghanistan and persuade the current government to pay attention to these remarks. I think the visit of these scholars is effective,” Khalil Ahmad Nadim, a political analyst, told TOLOnews.

“Their visit [scholars] with the Taliban officials, I think will not have a tangible change in the behavior of the Taliban,” Sayed Javad Sajadi, a political analyst, told TOLOnews.

Earlier, the delegation of scholars from Islamic countries, in a meeting with the acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, requested the support of Islamic countries for Afghanistan.

Power in Afghanistan in the Hands of Religious Scholars
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Pakistan’s Top Court Begins Hearing Challenge to Expulsion of Afghans

December 3, 2023
Fatema Adeeb
Tolo News
2 Dec 2023

The petitioners have said that the deportation of Afghan immigrants is outside the jurisdiction of the caretaker government of Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court began hearings on Friday on a petition by rights activists seeking to halt forced deportation of Afghan refugees, who were born in Pakistan and those who are at risk if they return to Afghanistan.

Umar Ijaz Gilani, the lawyer representing the rights activists, told Reuters that children born to Afghan families in Pakistan could not be sent back due to their birthright.

“Due to the urgency, as thousands of people are suffering on a daily basis, I’ve requested the court to take up the case as early as next week,” Gilani said.

The petitioners have said that the deportation of Afghan immigrants is outside the jurisdiction of the caretaker government of Pakistan.

Pakistan Supreme Court’s Justice Ayesha A. Malik on Friday observed that Pakistan was bound by the United Nations conventions that protected the rights of refugees.

She passed these remarks as a three-member bench of the apex court took up a petition seeking restraining orders against the caretaker government’s decision to deport illegal Afghan nationals, Dawn newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate said that putting pressure or arresting Afghan immigrants and taking their property is not legal and should be prevented.

“We also ask them to return to their country, but putting pressure or arresting them and taking their property is not legal and should be prevented in any country,” said the Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid.

Dawn reported that regarding 109 petitions of Pakistani women seeking Pakistan Origin Cards (POCs) for their Afghan spouses, the Peshawar High Court on Friday ordered the federal government to proceed with their cases in accordance with prescribed rules.

Dawn said that lawyers informed the court that the petitioners had been seeking POCs for their Afghan spouses, who either possessed POR (Proof of Registration) cards or ACC (Afghan Citizenship Cards).

Meanwhile, some Afghan immigrants who have been forcibly deported from Pakistan said that they are facing many challenges as winter approaches.

“Many atrocities were committed against us, all our property was confiscated in Pakistan,” said an Afghan immigrant forcibly deported from Pakistan.

The EU Delegation to Afghanistan approved a new financial aid package worth €142.8 million ($ 155,544,900.00) to strengthen basic services and maintain livelihoods for vulnerable Afghans and migrants.

“The EU’s commitment to stand by the Afghan people remains unwavering. To address their growing basic needs, the EU has mobilised a new support measure. This €142.8 million package will focus on health, nutrition, education, clean water and sanitation, in particular for women, girls, displaced populations and those affected by displacement,” said Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.

This comes as in the past month, many immigrants from Pakistan have been forced to return to the country, and this action of Pakistan has faced strong internal and external reactions.

Based on the latest figures of the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR), so far, more than four hundred thousand Afghan immigrants have returned to the country from Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Top Court Begins Hearing Challenge to Expulsion of Afghans
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Afghanistan Among 10 Most Vulnerable Countries to Climate Change: UN

December 3, 2023
TOLOnews
TV Network
2 Dec 2023

UNAMA said that Afghanistan is one of the 10 most vulnerable countries in terms of climate change in the world.

The United Nations Vice-Chancellor, in an announcement urged the presence of an Afghan representative in the next “COP” climate change meeting.

UNAMA said that Afghanistan is one of the 10 most vulnerable countries in terms of climate change in the world.

“Nearly 20 million Afghans face emergency or crisis levels of food insecurity, driven by a third consecutive year of drought, economic pressures, and high vulnerability to other natural hazards – including two devastating earthquakes in the last two years. We are not approaching COP29 with yet another statement on Afghanistan’s absence,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the head of UNAMA.

However, the National Environmental Protection Agency said that 32 of its projects worth more than $825 million dollars have been suspended by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“If these projects start in the normal process and a green light is shown for us to start these projects with our partner institutions, this can have an effect on the climate crisis in the management of droughts, floods and other sectors that are vulnerable to climate change,” said Rohullah Amin, head of climate change of the National Environmental Protection Agency.

The spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that Afghanistan is a victim of this phenomenon and it is necessary for the countries of the world to help in this matter without considering the political issues with Afghanistan.

“Unfortunately, the institutions that exist in the world to prevent the harm of climate change, they have also made the issue of climate politics political. The Islamic Emirate has been in power for two years, but is not invited to these meetings,” Zabihullah Mujahid said.

Meanwhile, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) began with the participation of representatives of 198 countries that are members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and with the presence of heads of a number of countries, the private sector, bilateral and multilateral financial institutions of the United Nations, civil

Afghanistan Among 10 Most Vulnerable Countries to Climate Change: UN
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Emerald Mining Ongoing: Panjshir’s Governor

December 3, 2023
TOLOnews
TV Network
2 Dec 2023

Local officials have also announced the start of work on “how to extract forty newly discovered emerald mines” in Panjshir.

The local officials of Panjshir said that an American businessman has promised to invest nearly 10 million dollars for the purpose of providing an advanced means of extracting emerald mines in this province.

Local officials have also announced the start of work on “how to extract forty newly discovered emerald mines” in Panjshir.

Mohammad Agha Hakim, the governor of Panjshir, stated that emerald mining continues in more than 500 mines in Panjshir and said: “The representative of that company came and had a meeting with me, he said that we bring a lot of advanced equipment and we extract these mines based on principles.”

According to the statistics of the officials, currently 5 to 7 thousand people are busy in mining emeralds in Panjshir.

These workers said that lack of advanced equipment and sometimes the possibility of collapsing mines are the biggest challenges for them.

“People hope that these problems will be solved. There is no advanced equipment inside the mines, there is no medical team, there is no oxygen inside, the mines are very worked, there is gravel,” said Mohammad Aman, head of supervising one of the emerald mines in Panjshir.

“The benefit of this emerald is for all Afghans, even for a businessman or a daily wage worker,” said Temorshah, a worker.

The Governor of Panjshir added that the emeralds extracted from the mines of this province has been sold for $1.5 million dollars, of which 11 million Afghanis have been deposited into the government treasury.

According to Mohammad Agha Hakim, the governor of Panjshir province, the ruby and gold mine is also supposed to be entrusted to a contract by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in the near future, and the work on the iron mine is still going on.

Emerald Mining Ongoing: Panjshir’s Governor
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