UMEF campus in Kabul is legal, insists Sangdil

KABUL (Pajhwok): Swiss UMEF University officials on Thursday said the university activities in Kabul were legal and accused the Ministry of Higher Education (MoPH) of employing double standards against it.

According to a Pajhwok Afghan News report, the issue was raised after higher education minister in 2017 said they did not recognise the UMEF University campus in Kabul and the degrees it awarded were illegal.

The decision at a meeting with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah put at stake the future of 500 students of the Swiss linked university.

However, officials of the university said that the campus had been invested by Javid Sangdil, an Afghan citizen during former president Hamid Karzai government in line with an agreement with the main campus administration in Geneva.

Akmal Sangdil, UMEF University official in Kabul, told to a press conference that some ‘self-interested’ people in MoHE wanted to stop ‘a standard educational institute’ in Afghanistan.

He said MoHE figures employing double standards and without the decision of the country’s judicial organs had put at hold the education of many UMEF students.

“The MoHE has recently prepared a suggestion that violations exist in the university and it does not recognize it, a move that confused President Ashraf Ghani because the ministry did not mention the case is sub judice,” he said.

Sangdil said the UMEF University in Kabul had not received any formal letter from the ministry regarding illegality of its activities.

So far around 60 students of the university have been shifted to the Kabul University amid rumors that other students may also find their way to the Kabul University under the name of UMEF University students, he added.

He said shifting of UMEF University students to Kabul University was against the law and should be investigated.

“We ask the government and the president not to allow any third party to interfere in this issue until the judiciary decides the university case,” he said.

Zubair Momand, a master’s degree student of economy at UMEF University, talking on behalf of other students, said rumors against the university were spread about one and a half years ago to create problems.

He said around 60 students of the university had been shifted to Kabul University illegally.

Momand warned of staging protests if their future was not decided in the next 15 days.

However, Mohammad Zia Sahil, MoHE spokesman, said the ministry had sent a letter to the UMEF University on January 14, 2017 that the university had no academic accreditation in the ministry.

He said the ministry had suggested to the president to shift those master’s degree students of UMEF University to Kabul University who pursued their education before January 14, 2017.

The president a week ago released a decree shifting 150 students from UMEF University to Kabul University, he said.

The MoHE cannot help students who had started education in UMEF University after January 14, 2017 because the ministry had already announced that the university was no longer credible, he concluded.

mds/ma