Higher education has become an important agenda in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. A major aspect of this agenda is the conceptualization of education as a tool not just for development but for peacebuilding. Yet there are few studies examining how university educators might be equipped as frontline peace workers. This study explores: How…

This study aimed at exploring factors affecting classroom participation among students in the English department of Laghman University, Afghanistan. More precisely, this research discovered factors related to teachers and class-size that hinder students' practice of oral participation in the classroom. In collecting the data, this study employed…

This study examined students' attitudes toward distance learning, and its relationship with the duration of using Telegram and schooling. It specifically explored students' experiences of the challenges and opportunities that distance learning created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, two null hypotheses were formulated: (1) there is no…

The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan last year has produced a desperate humanitarian situation in the country. Nearly half of all households are experiencing acute food insecurity, maternal and infant mortality rates are rising quickly, and 97% of families are at risk of dropping below the poverty line. Most concerning is the intentional…

The current paper focusses on the teachers' attitude towards and experiences with e-learning tools at two universities in different phases of e-learning implementation. The study population comprises teachers at university level and a simple random sampling method was used. A total of 45 teachers in bachelor programmes from the Faculty of…

The study investigated students' views of reasons for the adoption of English medium instruction (EMI) in Afghan Higher Education, EMI effects on official languages and students' preference of medium of instruction. It also explored whether students' gender, first language and English proficiency had any significant impact on their responses. The…

Higher education is considered an important tool for the overall development of any country, and it holds true in the context of Afghanistan as well. At the same time, a good eco-environment in terms of political will, leaders' farsighted vision, a fair budget, good infrastructure, and a good teaching community are some of the basic requirements…

Although the field of classroom learning environments has undergone remarkable expansion and internationalisation, no study in Afghanistan in any subject area or at any educational level has ever adopted a learning environment framework or involved the assessment and investigation of classroom environments. Our study in Afghanistan included seven…

This paper argues that part-time adult literacy facilitators (ALFs), who are often employed in large numbers, have the potential to become agents for a wider approach to development, especially through involvement with the adult learning targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Drawing on international ethnographic-style research into…

This dissertation examined the contribution of higher education to the understanding and practice of women's empowerment, as perceived by adult Afghan men and women living in the city of Kabul who attended universities either in or out of Afghanistan. While studying the concept of women's empowerment, this work defined empowerment through its core…

There are ongoing global efforts to mitigate intimate partner violence (IPV); nevertheless, IPV is extensive in conflict-affected countries like Afghanistan. This study examined disparities in IPV endorsement among Afghan women using data from the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey of 20,793 ethnically diverse married women. We adopted…

The study investigated university lecturers' attitudes towards English medium instruction (EMI), reasons for EMI adoption, effects of EMI on official languages and lecturers' preference for language of instruction. It also examined the impact of gender, English proficiency, country and medium of instruction of lecturers' highest educational degree…

This research investigated the implementation of accreditation at public teaching and research universities in Afghanistan. A qualitative multi-case study design was used to interview 46 individuals from five universities. The findings revealed that participants conceptualise quality assurance and accreditation as organisational sensemaking that…

Public higher education is chronically under-funded in developing countries, making private investment necessary for human capital development. We investigate if information provision mobilizes support for private investment in public higher education by employing an online RCT in Afghanistan. We find that information cues impact respondents'…

Afghanistan is often characterised as a 'failed' or 'fragile' state in terms of state 'functionality', lacking in capacity to provide security and wellbeing to its citizens and failing to prevent violent conflict and terrorism. Since 2001, education has become a major victim of Afghanistan's protracted crisis that involves international military…