OVERVIEW

HEDP supports Afghanistan’s second National Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP II) 2015-2020. The HEDP is organized under two components: 1) the Higher Education Development Program component; and 2) the Program Operations and Technical Support component.

Component one is strategically designed to assist the implementation of the NHESP II. Component two supports the implementation of component one through program coordination, technical assistance, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, and research and communication. These components are complementary and the activities benefit both the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) and the individual universities. HEDP is fully managed by the World Bank.

ACTIVITIES

• Increasing access to priority degree programs for economic development by expanding enrollment in market driven degree programs.
• Modernizing and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning by assisting universities to introduce outcome-based education and student-centered learning in line with current international trends in higher education.
• Improving the qualifications and skills of university staff by increasing the number of those qualified at the level of holding a Master's Degree.
• Strengthening governance, quality assurance, and accreditation to promote substantive and procedural autonomous universities.
• Strengthening the capacity of MoHE and universities to implement the reforms of the NHESP II through program operations and technical support.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Enrolled 79,479 students in economic development priority degree programs.
• Enrolled 4,848 females in priority degree programs in their first year at public universities.
• Provided 3,426 female students with access to adequate residential facilities on university campuses.
• Trained 665 academic staff in outcome-based education and student centered learning.
• Benchmarked regional quality assurance reviews for eight universities.
• Awarded 209 scholarships to academic staff to pursue Master’s Degrees, including 75 female faculty.
• Provided leadership and management training focused on authority and accountability to 245 university senior managerial and administrative staff.
• Supported 10 universities to complete strategic plans, in accordance with the NHESP.
• Trained 75 university staff in technical and maintenance training to upgrade credentials.
• Awarded 60 development-oriented, research grants in priority disciplines to academic professionals.