Kabul University

Kabul University
(Pashto) دکابل پوهنتون Da Kābul Pohantūn (Persian) دانشگاه کابل Dāneshgāh-e Kābul
Latin: Universitas Cabylensis
Motto	Excellence in Service to Afghanistan
Established	1932
Chancellor	Hamidullah Amin
Location	Kabul, Afghanistan
Colors	Black, red, and green
Website	www.ku.edu.af

Kabul University (KU) is located in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. It was founded in 1931 but officially opened for classes in 1932. Kabul University is attended by 7,000 students, of which 1,700 are women. Hamidullah Amin is the chancellor of the university. The university is still recovering from the long period of war and chaos in the country. The main building was renovated about 500 meters from the old one, which has almost the same design.

Kabul University consists of 14 faculties in Agriculture, Economics, Pharmacy, Islamic Studies, Law, Language and Literature, Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Journalism, Veterinary medicine, Social Science, Psychology, Geoscience and Fine Arts.

Name

There is some debate on the name of the university. Officially, the university is known by the Pashto name Da Kābul Pohantūn (دکابل پوهنتون). It has been suggested to use three official names in Pashto, Persian (دانشگاه کابل) and English (University of Kabul); most of all, because Persian-speaking students feel discriminated by the governmental ban of the Persian word for university. This led to a clash between students and the police in November 2008, as mostly Persian-speaking students demanded to lift the ban on Persian words.

Previously, the Minister of Culture, Information, Tourism and Youth Affairs, Karim Khoram, had decided to ban the use of Persian expressions in government institutions and in state-controlled media, and a young journalist for a state newspaper was fined for using the Persian word for university in a report. A similar clash took place a few weeks earlier in the mostly Persian-speaking city of Mazar-e Sharif in northern Afghanistan. As a result, that university's name was officially changed from Pashto (Pohantūn-e Balkh) to Persian (Dāneshgāh-e Balkh).

History

Biology class during the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Kabul University was established in 1931 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 benefited from partnerships with the governments of France, Germany, Russia, and the United States.

In the 1960s foreign-educated scholars populated the campus, exposing the new generation to new topics such as communism, feminism and capitalism. 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 Khaliqis, Parchamis, Sholayees, and Ikhwanis.

In a clash between Ikhwanis and Sholayees, a poet named Saydal Sokhandan was killed by Gulbuddin 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 (PDPA), Kabul University lost several lecturers and staff^{[citation needed]}. The majority of the university's faculty left during the 10 year period of unrest or civil war that followed after the fall of the PDPA government in 1992.

Rebuilding

File:Zalmay Khalilzad and Ashraf Ghani at the university in 2005.jpg

Zalmay Khalilzad and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, the former chancellor of Kabul University

High school students taking the admission test at the university in 2010

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.

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, is 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 (ITCK). Each building is connected to the campus network and is provided with the internet connection from a fiber optic backbone. The Voice over IP (VoIP) technology was also part of the networking project.

Structure

• The Faculty of Law and Political Science has two departments: Law and Management(Political Science).
• The Faculty of Computer Science was previously a department of the Faculty of Science.
• The Faculty of Economic has four departments - Statistics, Finance, Business Administration and Economics.
• The Faculty of Science has four departments: Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics .
• The Faculty of Engineering has four departments: Architecture, Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering. An estimated 600 students are taking classes there.
• The Faculty of Pharmacy has five departments: Pharmacognosy, Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutics and Biochemistry and Food Analysis. It has seven laboratories. An estimated 400 students are taking classes there.
• The Faculty of Agriculture has six departments: Agricultural Economics, Agronomy, Animal Science, Forestry and Natural Resources, Horticulture, and Plant Protection.
• The Faculty of Veterinary Science has five departments: Paraclinic, Preclinic, Clinic, Animal Husbandry, and Food Hygiene.
• The Faculty of Journalism has two departments: Radio and Television and Printing Press.
• The Allama Iqbal Faculty of Arts built at a cost of around $10 million by neighboring Pakistan was established in 2010. The building contains 28 classrooms, two seminar-halls, library, two computer labs, 20 faculty offices. It coveres an area of 143,379 square feet (13,320.3 m²). Afghan and Pakistani officials innaugurated the building in July 2010.

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

• Nancy Dupree, expert on the History of Afghanistan
• Ghulam Mohammad Bahram (Professor)
• Wasef Bakhtari (Professor)
• Hamida Barmaki (Law Professor and Child Rights Commissioner)
• Mawlana Faizani (Philosopher and reformer)
• Fazluddin Fazl (Professor)
• Sayed Sultanshah Homam (Professor: Anthropology, Archaeology and Mongolian Studies)
• Saeed Nafisi (Professor)
• Abdul Qahar Samin (Professor)
• Abdul Hashim Sahak (Professor)
• Baz Mohammad Sherzad (Professor)
• Faqir Mohammad Melgerai (Professor)

See also

• List of universities in Afghanistan

External links

• Official website of Kabul University