VZCZCXRO3146
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1095/01 1201105
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301105Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8684
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001095 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/PPD, SCA/A 
STATE FOR ECA/A 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO KIRC SCUL AF
SUBJECT: REACHING THE NEXT GENERATION OF AFGHAN LEADERS THROUGH 
UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS 
 
REF: Kabul 1037 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Reftel provided an overview of Afghan higher education 
and post's efforts to engage various institutions throughout the 
country.  As it notes, all major Afghan political movements of the 
20th century started among students and faculty of Kabul University, 
including the communists, the Islamists, and the radical Islamists. 
While USAID and a number of U.S. educational institutions are 
involved in a small number of partnerships with individual 
universities, the American presence on university campuses is 
minimal.  The social sciences, journalism and the humanities in 
particular suffer from a lack of partnership opportunities.  Given 
the importance of the higher education sector in developing the next 
generation of Afghan leaders, post recommends that ECA/A establish a 
university partnership program for reaching this vital constituency. 
  End summary. 
 
¶2. While the Ministry of Education has funding for a huge textbook 
development project and teacher training, the Ministry of Higher 
Education does not.  USAID's Office of Democracy and Governance has 
worked to produce a number of law textbooks now in use at American 
University of Afghanistan (AUAf).  USAID's Office of Economic Growth 
has established a Bachelor in Business program at Kabul University; 
150 students will graduate with this degree this year.  A select 
group of graduating seniors will participate in a three-month 
training program in Small and Medium Enterprise Development in 
Afghanistan (?), followed by a three-month internship. 
 
¶3. USAID supports a number of other initiatives.  In addition to 
upgrading skills of university faculty, staff, and students across 
the country, its programs have provided 138 scholarships so that 
faculty and ministry staff could obtain certificates and graduate 
degrees at regional and American universities.  Many stateside 
institutions, including Washington State University, Indiana 
University and the University of Massachusetts, in addition to 
Stanford, are implementing partners or sub-contractors for USAID 
projects.  Purdue has also worked with Afghan universities in the 
field of agriculture. 
 
¶4. For instance, Washington State University is implementing a 
five-year, $12 million USAID cooperative agreement that facilitates 
alliances between Afghan institutions and partners in the U.S., 
India, Japan, Europe, Africa, and the Philippines.  As a result, 
Afghan faculty and administrators have been sent to these partner 
institutions, and foreign counterparts have taught at Afghan 
institutions.  Their increased common knowledge base, improved 
attitudes and skills have contributed to updated curriculum, 
syllabi, and online content in key academic areas.  This cooperative 
agreement will continue through June 2011. 
 
¶5. The World Bank has been involved in supporting some university 
partnerships, such as the Kansas State - Kabul U/Balkh U 
partnerships in Engineering and English.  Professors at Herat 
University's Engineering faculty have also benefited from WB-funded 
training at the University of Connecticut-Hartford.  Some German 
universities have supported IT partnerships.  Herat University also 
enjoys partnerships with various universities in Europe, Asia, and 
Iran. 
 
¶6. With the exception of the above-named partnerships, the American 
presence on university campuses is quite minimal.  The social 
sciences, journalism and humanities are particularly lacking in 
partnership opportunities.  We believe that a USG-funded program 
supporting university partnerships would not only help fill the 
current void in higher education, but also demonstrate a lasting 
American commitment. 
 
¶7. Our vision of partnerships includes a focus on four broad 
objectives:  the exchange of faculty; creating a common knowledge 
base (consisting of new library acquisitions and translations of 
texts); enhancing educational technologies; and engaging in 
collaborative research.  Partnerships should also include exchange 
opportunities for undergraduates, an area of need not currently 
addressed by ongoing ECA programs. 
 
¶8. The current security environment precludes the implementation of 
university partnerships such as we saw in the former Soviet and 
Warsaw Pact countries, but we believe that with some modification, 
Afghanistan could reap many of the same rewards.  Other university 
partnerships have cited some of the following benefits: 
 
     -- Both partners learned to work effectively together in a 
complex exchange of ideas, experiences and values.  They emerged 
with a deeper understanding of academic and cultural differences and 
similarities, and found new common ground. 
 
     -- The partnership enriched and modernized curricula, as well 
as incorporated technology in the educational process. 
 
 
KABUL 00001095  002 OF 002 
 
 
     -- Past exchanges resulted in positive attitudes toward the 
Unites States after students visited the U.S., and continued 
interaction with American academic colleagues. 
 
¶9. Existing models of university partnerships would need to be 
modified to take the security situation into account.  We realize 
this will include significantly more support from the Embassy/PRTs, 
fewer Americans traveling to Afghanistan, and a greater focus on 
rebuilding infrastructure, especially in terms of materials, 
internet, and digital technologies that would enable video 
conferencing to bring partners together.  While World Bank 
partnerships have American faculty actually working full-time on 
Afghan campuses, we do not recommend our taking responsibility for 
the security of these individuals.   The Embassy/PRTs would be ready 
to provide support for initial assessments and short term visits. 
 
¶10. Partnerships would benefit from having a returned Fulbrighter or 
other Afghan who has gone through the American educational system 
serving as an impartial project manager on the ground.  Such a 
person would be in the best position to understand both sides and 
candidly communicate with the partners. 
 
¶11. We also believe that the likeliest candidates for partnerships 
are in Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif (Balkh University), given 
the relatively secure environment.  These universities have also 
expressed the most interest in partnerships and have some experience 
already in working with Americans.  Given existing partnerships in 
the fields of English, Engineering and Agriculture, post recommends 
that a proposed university partnership program focus on social 
sciences, journalism, and humanities.  Herat University could also 
benefit from a partnership for its medical faculty. 
 
¶12. The absence, by and large, of western faculty teaching and 
researching at Afghan universities, the small percent of classes 
taught in English, and the paucity of scholarships for Afghan 
faculty and students to study in the west are ceding the ground to 
others.  By putting more effort and funding into university 
partnerships, we will be enhancing not only today's generation of 
students, but also future security and development for Afghanistan. 
ECA/A should take advantage of this opportunity by establishing a 
university partnership program for Afghanistan. 
 
RICCIARDONE