Acting Minister of Higher Education Abbas Basir said on Thursday that public higher education institutions in Afghanistan only had the capacity to enrol 10% of the university entrance exam (Kankor) applicants and there was urgent need of more investment in higher education.
At a ceremony announcing the results of the exam, Basir praised the National Entrance Examination Office for organising everything in a transparent manner, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19.
Basir said Afghanistan’s higher education sector lacked capacity and was thus, unable to accept more students. He said in the coming years, efforts will be made to increase enrolment.
According to him, investing in research is one of the ways to achieve this goal.
The head of the Ministry of Higher Education also said their academic curriculum should be in line with the needs of the domestic and foreign markets.
He added that the ministry is setting up 122 scholarships for the top 20 scorers across Afghanistan and the other 102 for the top three places in each province. The scholarship holders will have the opportunity to study abroad for continuing their higher education.
Top scorers in Kankor
Shamsia from Kabul aced the exams with 353.185 marks. Media reports claim she is a survivor of the IS-K (Daesh) attack at the Mowud Education Centre in August 2018.
Nematullah from Kabul came in second place with 353.133 marks while the third place went to Mohammad Mojtaba from Kabul with 350.061 marks.
All three plan to study medicine at Kabul Medical Univeristy.
