Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) has sent a new plan to the ministerial council for endorsement based on which entrance to universities will be based on quota. The number of students that will be enrolled in universities after passing Konkor or the entrance exam will be based upon the population of each province. Currently, the system is merit based which means that admission to the universities take place on merit basis; only those are provided the opportunity to get higher education in government-run universities who after passing Konkor fall into a specified grade group regardless of their ethnicity, location, sex and other such factors. 

The decision by MoHE is being seen as odd and there have already been protests against it in certain provinces of Afghanistan. Already ethnic-based discrimination persists in Afghanistan up to a dangerous level, the new educational plan may further widen the rift between Afghan ethnic groups. The plan by MoHE comes at times when this year students from the remote province of Daikundi were able to secure highest grades in the university entrance examination. As compared to other provinces, students from provinces like Daikundi, Bamiyan, Ghawr and Ghazni are the ones who get high grades almost every year.

Changing merit-based education to quota-based one seems more like plot to close doors of universities for those who obtain high scores based on their personal qualification, hardworking, and interest and passion for education. This is indeed a plan to suffocate competence, intelligence and positive competition among the students which will have negative impacts on the educational development in Afghanistan.

Actually, entrance to universities was the only opportunity that could be availed based on one’s ability and hardworking. Such an opportunity will no more be available to the people with final approval of the new MoHE plan. Some say, the minister of higher education has taken the decision after he was pressurized from the Presidential Palace. The minister must have acted seeing what is in the best interest of Afghanistan even if this could result in his termination. Additionally, the quota system should first be implemented in the hiring process of government entities. Government ministries and other organizations are where people from a specific ethnic group are seen more than others. These are places where nepotism and other forms of corruption have reached their climax.

Now, it is the responsibility of the national assembly to stop implementation of the quota-based education as education is not like edibles that should be bought in grams, liters and meters. Moreover, there is no reliable statistics on population that could lead to prepare proper and fair quotas of provinces.