Kabul University


Kabul University is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is located in the 3rd District of the capital Kabul, near the Ministry of Higher Education. It was founded in 1931 during the government of Mohammed Nadir Shah and then Prime Minister Mohammad Hashim Khan.
Kabul University is attended by approximately 22,000 students. Of these, nearly 43% are female students. The mission of Kabul University is to mature and prosper as an internationally recognised institution of learning and research, a community of stakeholders committed to shared governance, and a centre of innovative thought and practice.

History

The first Faculty of Medicine in Kabul, was established by a group of Turkish Professors of Medicine and Surgery led by Prof.Dr.Kamil Rifki ORGA in 1932 in the region of Aliabad.The first Teaching -University Hospital, called" The Aliabad Hospital " was also built here on the campus under the guidance and close supervision of Turkish architects and teaching physicians. 1n 1936 by the establishment of Faculty of Law & Political Sciences in the same campus by a Turkish Prof.Dr.Mehmed Ali Dağpınar.The Faculty of Law started to enroll students of Law. Therefore, by then, these two faculties put the foundation of the present-day "Kabul University".The first attending Turkish Professors of Medicine & Surgery who had gone to Afghanistan under an official agreement between the governments of Afghanistan and The Turkish Republic served in Kabul University between 1932 and 1952. The first President of Kabul University and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine was a well-known Turkish surgeon and anatomist Prof. Dr. Kamil Rifki Orga, who to gather with 15 other Turkish physicians taught Medicine and Surgery for a period of 17 years. Later on, some additional teaching staff including a French Professor called Dr.Pierre Bolange attended as the Dean of Faculty of Medicine after the previous Turkish Dean; Prof.Zuhtu Bey who left Kabul for Ankara in 1952. The first graduates of the Faculty of Medicine were nine people most of whom played significant roles in the administrative and university community reforms of this country. For instance, Dr.Muhammad Yusuf and Prof. Dr. Fattah Najeem were some of them.
Kabul University was established in 1932 during the reign of Mohammed Nadir Shah and then Prime Minister Mohammad Hashim Khan, opening its doors one year later to students from across the country. It benefitted from partnerships with the governments of Turkey, France, Germany and the United States.
was the director of the Afghan Center at Kabul University starting 1962
In the 1960s foreign-educated scholars populated the campus, exposing the new generation to new topics such as communism, feminism and capitalism. Notable students influenced during this era included Ahmad Shah Massoud, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Dr. Faiz Ahmad, and Saydal Sokhandan. Many different political groups were influenced in the university such as Khalqists, Parchamites, Sholayees, and Ikhwanists. In a clash between Ikhwanis and Sholayees, a poet named Saydal Sokhandan was killed by Hekmatyar in the 1970s. Saydal was fired upon and shot by Gulbuddin during an argument.
During the governance of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, Kabul University lost several lecturers and staff. The majority of the university's faculty left during the ten-year period of unrest or civil war that followed after the fall of the PDPA government in 1992. The area around the university and Karte Char was a major battleground in the Afghan Civil War.

Renovation

After the removal of the Taliban government in late 2001, the international community focused on rebuilding the educational institutions in Afghanistan. By January 2004 the campus had only 24 computers. As part of its recovery program the university has established partnerships with four foreign universities, including Purdue University and the University of Arizona. Furthermore, the Information Technology Center was founded in 2002 with the cooperation of German Academic Exchange Service and Technical University of Berlin. The number of students in higher education had increased across the country from 22,717 in 2002 to 56,451 in 2008. By 2008, the Kabul University was attended by 9,660 students, 2,336 of them being women.
It was reported in 2007 that Iran donated funds to the university's dentistry faculty and donated 25,000 books. The main library of Kabul University was built by the United States, which is the best-equipped library in Afghanistan. It is equipped with computers, books and magazines. Nancy Dupree, wife of Louis Dupree, was the Director of the Afghanistan Center at the university.
In 2008, the campus of Kabul University was provided with local network facilities by the Information Technology center of Kabul University. Each building is connected to the campus network and is provided with the internet connection from a fiber optic backbone. The Voice over IP technology was also part of the networking project, which improved the quality of telephone communication at the university level.

Structure

The faculty of Computer Science was separated from faculty of Natural Sciences in 2008. At that time the faculty had 17 lecturers, 215 students, 3 modern and equipped laboratories, one library, examination centre for long-distance exams, and was part of the CISCO regional project. The faculty has started lectures with three departments namely software engineering, information system and technology and database in 2010. The computer sciences faculty has close contacts with the University of Maryland, University of Washington, University of Cape Town, Technical University of Berlin and the computer sciences department of all domestic universities. The graduates of the faculty can work in information technology centers of all governmental and non-governmental organizations.

National Centre for Policy Research

The National Centre for Policy Research was established at Kabul University by the Ministry of Higher Education and Konrad Adenauer Foundation in 2003, and includes faculty in the departments of Law and Politics, Economics, and Social Science.

Library

In 1992, the library held 200,000 books, 5,000 manuscripts, 3,000 rare books, periodicals, photographs and calligraphic specimens. Following a civil war, most materials were sold in book markets, burnt, destroyed, or lost. It served as the National Library of Afghanistan.

Notable alumni

Notable graduates of Kabul University include: