Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s higher education minister, has asked Türkiye to send university lecturers and specialist doctors to Afghanistan to provide teaching and practical training.
He made the request on Tuesday during a meeting with Sadin Ayyildiz, Türkiye’s ambassador to Kabul.
According to a statement from the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, Nadeem also asked Türkiye to renovate two old buildings at Aliabad Teaching Hospital, which is affiliated with Kabul University of Medical Sciences, and help equip Afghanistan’s teaching hospitals.
The ministry said the Turkish ambassador expressed his country’s readiness to expand academic cooperation with Afghanistan. He said Turkish universities could establish academic ties with Afghan universities and sign cooperation agreements.
The statement did not say whether Türkiye had agreed to send lecturers and specialist doctors.
The request comes as Afghanistan’s universities and health institutions have faced shortages of lecturers, specialist doctors and academic staff since the Taliban returned to power.
Over the past five years, many university lecturers, doctors and specialists have left Afghanistan because of economic hardship, employment restrictions, political pressure and security concerns. Some lecturers have also been dismissed from universities or lost their jobs.
Critics say the Taliban has appointed people without academic experience, as well as clerics close to the group, to management and teaching positions at several universities. They argue that this policy, combined with the departure of qualified lecturers, has weakened the quality of education and research.
The Taliban has also banned girls and women from attending universities since late 2022. Besides depriving women of higher education, the ban has halted the work of female lecturers and the training of female doctors and specialists, worsening the shortage of qualified health workers.
