The Remarkable Resilience of Private Universities in Afghanistan: Sustaining Higher Education Amidst Socio-economic and Political Storms

• In Event: "How Power Works: Complementary Perspectives on Reproduction, Resistance, and Change"

Proposal

This research explores the extraordinary resilience of private universities in Afghanistan in the face of challenging socio-economic and political changes over the past two years. With the fall of the Republic and the return of the Taliban in August 2021, with unprecedented uncertainties and obstacles, private universities have exemplified weathering the storms. This research investigates the strategies these institutions employ to navigate the multifaceted approach to maintaining educational continuity for their students.
The research reviews existing literature on the resilience of private universities operating in emergency contexts such as Afghanistan. It is supplemented by interviews with university administrators in Kabul and provinces, representing urban and rural dynamics. I used Grounded Theory to identify the challenges and relevant navigation strategies universities employ.
The findings illuminate the struggles and strength of private universities in providing quality higher education amidst reduced budgets, student enrollment, faculty drain, and restrictive government policies. Afghanistan's case represents private university administrators' formidable commitment to adapting and ensuring operations. It also shows how private universities offered alternative learning spaces and resilience as public universities became increasingly under the control of the Taliban authorities. The research also examines how universities used unified protest power to remain operational. However, the threat of increased state control coupled with decreasing student enrollment and subsequent financial obstacles constrains private universities' resilience. Without support from the state and solidarity from international organizations, the space for private universities to operate will likely shrink and therefore lose its potential of serving as the alternate arm of higher education continuity.

Author

• Nangyalai Attal, UMass Amherst