If You Believe in Faith: An Interview with Afghanistan's Minister of Higher Education
The physical rebuilding of Afghan higher education is making good progress. Now it's time to rebuild the human capacity.
By Angie Chuang
New construction springs up like hope in Afghanistan's capital: rampant, haphazard, and, too often, quick to deteriorate in Kabul's harsh climate. But one closely watched building project has come to symbolize so much—the renovation of the bombed-out, abandoned women's dormitories at Kabul University. When completed, they will house two thousand of the first female university students in nearly a decade. Girls and women were barred from schools by the Taliban, the faction that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Just east of the construction site, Sharif Fayez, the country's minister of higher education, arrives each day for work at a bunker-like building, passing Kalashnikov-wielding guards and a metal detector to get to his office. Fayez, a former Afghan expatriate with a PhD in English literature from the University of Arizona, has faced his share of challenges during his two-and-a-half-year tenure as a cabinet minister in Afghanistan's interim government. In March, he attended a memorial ceremony for the aviation minister, the third interim cabinet official assassinated since the inception of the government in 2002. In February, newly standardized college entrance examinations taken by forty thousand prospective students were declared invalid after it was discovered that answer sheets had been sold. In late 2002, police officers killed four Kabul University students who were rioting after the dormitories ran out of food.
Nevertheless, in a May 2004 interview at the ministry, Fayez said higher education in Afghanistan has made progress in the past year. He was about to travel to Washington, D.C., to testify before a congressional subcommittee to solicit support for a new American University of Afghanistan in Kabul. Fayez, who was a professor at Kabul University in the 1970s, is known for his low-key style in a cabinet studded with flamboyant characters, some with direct ties to warlords. He described serving in the interim government as a personal obligation to his birthplace. As the scheduled October national elections approach—postponed from June because of unrest in the country—Fayez said there are plenty of challenges: shortfalls in foreign aid, a lack of skilled faculty members and administrators, and shaky security outside of Kabul. But, he said, his faith has been buoyed in his third year by marks of tangible progress.
Chuang: Tell me about some of the progress made in the higher education system this year.
Fayez: This has been a banner year for us. We're finally reaching the stage where we can begin new construction, rather than just reconstruct bombed-out buildings. We are building Afghanistan's first community college, a new campus in northern Afghanistan, and a testing center (to administer the college entrance examinations, thus ensuring tighter security). We are also rebuilding campuses in Herat and Kandahar. Our last goal is to rebuild the ministry itself. Most of the rooms are leaking. We are doing major remodeling. It's a $10 million project. We're building a guesthouse at the ministry, which is a key first step to starting the American University. This project is very important. We've already established relationships with a handful of American universities, such as Indiana University, the University of Massachusetts, and Purdue University, where we can exchange faculty and use some of their resources. Having an actual American University will take that to another level. It would be a great academic, cultural, and intellectual contribution to the country.
Chuang: What are the biggest challenges at this point?
Fayez: In terms of physical capacities, we are moving ahead. In terms of human capacities, it is very difficult. The vast majority of university-level teachers are not well educated. About 70 percent have only bachelor's degrees. We have been sending our students to Japan, the United States, South Korea, and other countries to get additional education. We are waiting for the new generation of academics, in about three or four years. We would like to draw more Afghan expatriates to come teach. There are very few of us from the United States. I teach at Kabul University two times a week, an English literature class with about forty students.
Chuang: What propelled you to leave the comforts of life in America—you lived with your family in Virginia prior to taking this position—and return to your birthplace at this pivotal and dangerous time?
Fayez: It's an easy decision, if you believe in faith. It was not my plan. I was not expecting to be a minister of higher education. The work is spiritually satisfying yet difficult. Yet I don't consider this to be a difficult job—it would be if I didn't have a strong team. I do, and I can handle it. My adviser, Zaher Wahab, is probably the best we have in the area of education. (Wahab is an expatriate professor on sab-batical from Lewis and Clark College's Graduate School of Education.) He has experience, vision, and a willingness to do almost everything, from writing policy to fixing the lights. Every ministry should have one or two people like Wahab.
Chuang: Three cabinet members have been assassinated since the interim government was formed in 2002. You have round-the-clock security, and Zaher Wahab tells me that he sorts through death threats directed at you as part of his regular duties. How do you regard the safety issue?
Fayez: Yes, I have security guards. Does it make a difference? Terrorists can attack anytime. I don't have a bulletproof car. If you think about security matters, you can't live here.
Chuang: The national elections were postponed from June to October, because of unrest in the country. Some have described Afghanistan as on the brink of another civil war. Are you concerned about the stability of the country as a whole?
Fayez: I don't think there will be a return to civil war. That's almost impossible. Before the establishment of this interim government, most Afghans had fled to Pakistan or Iran. Their voices were not heard, especially women. Now people are back home and empowered for the first time. I trust time. The power of the warlords has been drastically reduced. Many have been disarmed. I don't think there's any interest in going back to the old ways, to the division of Afghanistan. The cabinet has been very conscientious to respond to different ethnic groups, to represent them and encourage them to work together. The presence of ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force) and NATO have helped greatly.
Chuang: Do you plan to continue serving as minister if Afghan president Hamid Karzai is re-elected in the scheduled October elections?
Fayez: I will continue to serve this government. I like the president. He's a great leader, with good visions for Afghanistan. His dream is to bring democracy here and to have a modern Afghanistan. He represents all Afghans. Personally, he's a very pleasant person and a good friend. I will serve his government. I don't have to be a minister. I can teach at Kabul University.
Chuang: Many voices in Afghanistan and from within the United States have been critical that the United States has not committed more to reconstruction efforts, especially since money and attention were diverted to Iraq. Do you feel the United States has contributed enough to the rebuilding of higher education?
Fayez: In comparison to other countries, funding by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. government has not measured up. The U.S. government must demonstrate that it is really committed to promoting democracy, knowledge, and technology. That's the point. That's the center. The United States should provide a model for other countries to follow. Also, what we would really like is for American academics to cooperate with us, in the establishment of the American University and other projects. I would like to invite academics and U.S. foundations to help. I'd like to invite Afghan expatriates to return. It would mean so much for the young generation. I'd like to tell their parents that we have someone qualified to teach their children.
Angie Chuang is a reporter for the Oregonian. She interviewed Sharif Fayez at his office in Kabul in May 2004, during a reporting trip to Afghanistan.
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