Taliban crackdown on private HE: Regulation or control?

The Taliban’s suspension of seven private universities and cancellation of the licences of two others has intensified concerns over the future of Afghanistan’s private higher education sector, with academics warning that tighter state control is coinciding with falling enrolment, economic hardship and growing interference in university affairs.

The Taliban-run Ministry of Higher Education announced on 9 August that seven private universities would be suspended for one year and the licences of two others would be cancelled following inspections conducted during the spring semester.

The seven suspended institutions are Barlas University in Jawzjan province, Rah-e-Saadat and Turkistan universities in Balkh province, Azhar and Barna universities in Badakhshan province, Rashad University in Faryab province and Payam University in the capital Kabul. The ministry also cancelled the licences of Kohanduz University in Kunduz province and Khana-e-Danish University in Takhar province.

Repeated warnings

The ministry said the action was needed because inspections had identified “very serious” problems despite repeated recommendations and warnings to the institutions.

Among the allegations were the existence of so-called “ghost students”, inadequate academic and administrative leadership, failure to record attendance, students being allowed to sit final examinations despite having been barred because of poor attendance, insufficient laboratories and equipment, and failure to teach curricula approved by the ministry.

The ministry also alleged that students enrolled in medical programmes were not undertaking required practical training in hospitals and that attendance records at the two institutions whose licences were revoked had been falsified.

The allegations have not been independently verified.

The ministry describes the action as part of its responsibility to regulate and improve Afghanistan’s higher education system.

But the ministry’s announcement setting out the reasons for the sanctions leaves questions unanswered over the future of the students affected. It does not provide detailed information on how students at the suspended or closed institutions will be transferred, how their academic credits will be recognised or how their studies will be protected.

Private higher education squeezed

Academics and education professionals inside and outside Afghanistan say the latest measures should be understood against a much broader transformation of the country’s universities.

Afghanistan’s private higher education sector had expanded rapidly during the two decades before the Taliban returned to power in 2021, helping absorb growing demand for university education.

But it has since been squeezed by political restrictions and economic pressures.

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, they have banned girls from attending secondary school, and since 2022 they have banned women from attending higher universities.

The consequences for universities have been profound.

According to UNESCO, private universities lost 28% of their income immediately after restrictions on women's higher education took effect, while 31% were put at risk of closure because of financial difficulties. Its assessment also identified declining enrolment and the wider economic downturn as major pressures on private institutions.

More recent UNICEF data show that Afghanistan’s wider tertiary education sector has contracted dramatically. Male university enrolment fell from 310,369 in 2019 to 188,957 in 2024, while female enrolment had fallen to zero.

The number of private universities declined from 128 in 2019 to 121 in 2024.

UNESCO has warned that the consequences extend beyond education itself. Its economic analysis estimated that Afghanistan could lose US$9.6 billion by 2066 if the suspension of women’s access to higher education continues, while more than 100,000 women who had been studying at university have been prevented from continuing their education.

The economic crisis has added to the pressure, with families struggling to afford tuition and universities competing for a shrinking pool of students.

UNICEF and UNESCO warned in January that Afghanistan was facing a broader education crisis, with weak oversight, uncertainty over curriculum changes, teacher shortages and poor infrastructure continuing to erode education quality. They called on the Taliban authorities to lift restrictions on girls’ and women’s education.

Demand ‘hit by economic conditions’

A lecturer at Kabul-based Jahan Private University, speaking to University World News on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said private institutions were struggling to attract new students as families faced worsening economic conditions.

The lecturer also described increasing Taliban interference in academic and staffing matters, saying decisions were increasingly being made without sufficient regard for the views and expertise of established academic professionals.

“Employment prospects are also a major concern. Graduates of private universities are finding it increasingly difficult to secure jobs, while the Taliban authorities are not providing sufficient employment opportunities for these university graduates,” he said.

That concern is echoed by broader economic data. The World Bank has identified youth unemployment as a major structural challenge in Afghanistan, estimating that nearly one in four young Afghans is unemployed. It has also warned that young people are increasingly working in jobs that do not match their education levels.

‘A wider attempt to stifle dissent’

Noah Coburn, an Afghanistan researcher who has studied the country's higher education system, told University World News that the international discussion of Afghanistan's education crisis had focused too heavily on women’s exclusion.

“The international community focuses primarily on women's access to education in Afghanistan but misses how it is actually part of a wider attempt to stifle dissent more broadly,” Coburn said.

He described the latest action as part of a broader restructuring of private higher education.

“It is also connected to the increased number of religious educational institutions being set up and an economy that increasingly revolves around connections to Taliban officials and their nodes of power,” he said.

Private institutions ‘seen as threat’

Coburn argued that private institutions occupy a particularly sensitive position under Taliban rule.

“Private institutions are a threat to Taliban rule because they are more difficult to control and are more responsive to the needs of ordinary Afghans,” he argued.

The Taliban was attempting to rebuild Afghanistan’s political economy around its own government and leadership, he said.

“Educating women and having a strong educated class of any type is not in line with that goal,” he said.

Coburn’s assessment comes as the Taliban has simultaneously increased its regulatory scrutiny of universities and expanded its emphasis on religious education.

Regulation or control?

However, the Taliban’s position is that tighter oversight is necessary to improve academic standards.

Previously, in 2024, the ministry revoked the licences of 11 private higher education institutions after finding what it described as serious academic and administrative shortcomings.

UNICEF independently recorded those licence cancellations in its latest assessment of Afghanistan’s education system.