The lack of quality textbooks in the universities of Afghanistan is a serious issue, which is repeatedly challenging students and teachers alike. To tackle this issue, we have initiated the process of providing textbooks to the students of medicine.
For this reason, we have published 366 different textbooks on Medicine, Engineering, Science, Economics, Journalism, and Agriculture from Nangarhar, Khost, Kandahar, Herat, Balkh, Al-Beroni, Kabul, Kabul Polytechnic, and Kabul Medical universities. The book you are holding in your hands is a sample of a printed textbook. It should be mentioned that all these books have been distributed among all Afghan universities and many other institutions and organizations for free. Out of the total, 96 medical textbooks were funded by the German Academic Exchange Service, 230 medical and non-medical textbooks were funded by Kinderhilfe-Afghanistan, 7 textbooks were funded by German-Afghan University Society, 2 textbooks were funded by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mazar-e Sharif, 4 textbooks funded by Afghanistan-Schulen, 2 textbooks funded by SlovakAid, 8 textbooks funded by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, and 2 textbooks funded by HUMEDICA. All the published textbooks can be downloaded from www.ecampus-afghanistan.org & www.kitabona.com.
The Afghan National Higher Education Strategy (2010-2014) states:
“Funds will be made available to encourage the writing and publication of textbooks in Dari and Pashto. Especially in priority areas, to improve the quality of teaching and learning and give students access to state–of–the–art information. In the meantime, translation of English language textbooks and journals into Dari and Pashto is a major challenge for curriculum reform. Without this facility it would not be possible for university students and faculty to access modern developments as knowledge in all disciplines accumulates at a rapid and exponential pace, in particular, this is a huge obstacle for establishing a research culture. The Ministry of Higher Education together with the universities will examine strategies to overcome this deficit.”
We would like to continue this project and to end the method of manual notes and papers. Based on the request of higher education institutions, there is the need to publish about 100 different textbooks each year.
I would like to ask all the lecturers to write new textbooks, translate or revise their lecture notes or written books, and share them with us to be published. We will ensure quality composition, printing, and distribution to Afghan universities free of charge. I would like the students to encourage and assist their lecturers in this regard. We welcome any recommendations and suggestions for improvement.
It is worth mentioning that the authors and publishers tried to prepare the books according to international standards, but if there is any problem in the book, we kindly request the readers to send their comments to us or the authors in order to be corrected for future revised editions.
We are very thankful to Kinderhilfe-Afghanistan (German Aid for Afghan Children) and its director Dr. Eroes, who has provided funds for this book. We would also like to mention that he has provided funds for 230 medical and non-medical textbooks so far.
I am especially grateful to GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation) and CIM (Centre for International Migration & Development) for providing work opportunities for me from 2010 to 2016 in Afghanistan.
In our ministry, I would like to cordially thank Academic Deputy Minister Abdul Tawab Balakarzai, Financial & Administrative Deputy Minister Noor Ahmad Darwish, Advisor at Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Gul Rahim Safi, Chancellor of Universities, Deans of faculties, and lecturers for their continuous cooperation and support for this project.
I am also thankful to all those lecturers who encouraged us and gave us all these books to be published and distributed all over Afghanistan. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation for the efforts of my colleagues Hekmatullah Aziz and Fahim Habibi in the office for publishing and distributing the textbooks.
Dr. Yahya Wardak
Advisor at the Ministry of Higher Education
Kabul, Afghanistan, April 2022
Mobile: 0706320844, 0780232310
Email: info@ecampus-afghanistan.org
Dr Matin Safi
