OIC to Cooperate with Taliban on Higher Education Development in Afghanistan

DID Press: Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education announced a significant expansion of doctoral and master’s programs across Afghan universities and called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to assist in recruiting qualified professors and equipping academic laboratories.

Acting Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem made the remarks during a meeting with OIC Assistant Secretary-General Tarig Ali Bakhit, saying the number of PhD programs in Afghanistan had grown from two to nearly 30, while master’s programs had reached 100.

Nadeem urged the OIC to help provide foreign lecturers, strengthen scientific collaboration with member states, and resume construction of the Islamic University in Nangarhar province.

Bakhit pledged that the OIC would cooperate with the Taliban administration in academic and educational fields.

The development comes as girls and women in Afghanistan remain banned from secondary and higher education under Taliban rule, with many former educational institutions converted into religious seminaries — a continuing challenge to the country’s academic system.