Changing and Adapting Curriculum While Teaching: Narratives From Afghan Academics and Students

1.1 Brief Overview of the Challenges Faced by Afghan Academics and Students in the Context of War and Displacement

Education is utmost important for the professional growth of the individuals and also it is being considered as a basic human need. But in some of the countries the individuals are not able to receive good quality education due to multiple reasons. This essay elaborates about the changing and adapting curriculum while teaching: Narratives from Afghan Academics and Students”. There are different challenges which are being faced by the Afghan academics and students due to the wars and the displacements as well (Gindeel and Etim, 2014). Due to the long term of conflicts in Afghanistan the education institutions has faced issues related to funding and destruction. When it comes to displacement then it has affected the overall education aspirations of millions of students due to the regular conflicts and disruptions (Arar et. al. 2020). Along with this the refugee students also suffer a lot in getting quality education due to not so effective education system for Afghan academics. Adding to this the refugee students also face countless issues related to language barriers, discrimination and several other issues which is affecting their opportunities to have a good professional career.

1.2 The Importance of Curriculum Adaptation in Ensuring Continuity of Education

For adapting the changing environment it is important for the education institutions to focus on curriculum adaptation for improving the quality of education continuously. Along with this curriculum adaptation helps in modifying the teaching materials, methods and content for meeting the learning needs of different students (Bannova and Mayorova, 2019). Moreover it can be said that regular curriculum adaptation is also important for offering up to date knowledge to the students, adapting the latest technologies and to adjust with the uncertainties such as Covid-19 pandemic (Gelmez-Burakgazi, 2020). Thus for offering the high quality education it is necessary to focus on curriculum adaptation.

2.1 A Brief History of the Afghan Educational System

As per Alamyar (2018) there was no such education system in Afghanistan until 1875. The first two formal schools have being built in Afghanistan under the ruling of Amir Shir Ali Khan. Adding to this more schools was being built under the leadership of King Habibullah Khan. Following this the King Amanulla Khan (1919-1929) has made the primary education compulsory for all which has bought great awareness related to education among the Afghan people. Under this period only the Ministry of Education has been set in Afghanistan and has started paying attention over offering better and good quality education to all. In later part of the report the author also stated about the situation of education system of Afghanistan during Taliban regime (1996-2001) during this time education is banned for females except the Kabul Medical Faculty. But later on in 2001 the Taliban regime has issued an education law under which everyone is having the right to education and for women education special laws were being developed in accordance with Sharia.

In opposite of this Hedayati, (2023) has argued that no Sharia barrier is there for education for women. Also the author has argued that the Islamic texts promote the necessity of women education and due to this reason it should not be banned as per Taliban regime. For having a modern civilized society in Afghanistan it is very important to have well educated people and the education system should promote education to all (Alqodsi, 2023).Khwajamir (2016) has argued that after the collapse of Taliban the government and the international communities are making continuous efforts to reform the education system in Afghanistan. After all this the concept of modern education with well-defined system is being set up in the Afghanistan education system.