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| 03-10-2005 | Previous edition: 03-09-2005 |
        
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Printer-friendly version International professors seek to restore educational systemsBy Adam HinesStaff Writer War is known for destroying a nation’s industry. In Afghanistan, however, war has crippled education. "We lost everything," Nazar Mohammad Karyar said. "Now is the time for restoration of the educational system." Karyar, one of the top engineering professors at Kabul University in Afghanistan, and five of his colleagues are visiting Purdue in order to view how the University is organized in terms of educational structure. Amanullah Faqiri, a professor at Kabul Polytechnic University, said the focus of new educational techniques would be on providing immediate short-term vocational training in civil engineering fields to the youth of his country. Afghanistan is losing its educational elite, and after 24 years of fighting and civil war, the youth of the country don’t know anything besides violence. Karyar said most students don’t go to college and are at a severe disadvantage when it comes to entering the work force and being productive. This presents a problem for the government because massive reconstruction is being done on Afghanistan’s infrastructure. Tasks such as building a road, which seems simple enough to complete to any western nation, are being contracted out to neighboring countries. Day laborers are being drawn in from countries such as Pakistan because the average Afghani doesn’t have the ability to use the required tools to complete the job. Karyar, who walks with a limp because of injuries he suffered during incarceration for teaching under the Taliban regime, remains defiant when it comes to restoring his country’s universities to operational status. Forget that the buildings he taught in were emptied and turned into munition depots. Forget about how the sidewalks leading to his classrooms have become minefields. After Operation Enduring Freedom removed the Taliban, Karyar and his fellow professors started to fix their country’s education systems. First they patched the bullet holes in the walls; now they work to bring the students back. While restoring a national educational system seems daunting, Karyar, the unofficial spokesman of the group, remains unwaveringly passionate about his goals. "Tell your students about our country, we want them to come, we want them to help," he said. "Our country is no different from your country. We are people, too." Karyar said he would like to see Purdue develop some sort of Afghan studies institute so American students would learn more about the culture instead of just the current events. "We hope students from your country have the opportunity to learn about what caused all the problems in our country. We have suffered as a people," said Karyar. He said he wishes there would be an exchange program for graduate students. "Before the wars, there were Purdue students who would come to Kabul and they could learn and teach the same way you do here," said Karyar. "Why can’t we do that now?" Printer-friendly version |
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