Afghan Women's University

I am organizaing a university for exiled Afghan Women (Times Educational Supplement, Britain, 27 April). One part of this project concerns on-line degree courses. Which American state would be best suited for such an initiative?

Dr Bernard Leeman
Al Akhawayan University
Morocco

 

Welcome to Dr. Leeman, who has been involved with some interesting projects in the past, including a proposed 'free South African' university during the times of apartheid.

There is no simple answer. The only process that makes sense any more is to locate in one of the few states that have a provisional license while a school pursues recognized accreditation. If they get the accreditation, then they are licensed; if not, they must leave. Louisiana has such a process and South Dakota will as of July 1; there may be others.

The formerly easy states either have gotten tough or are likely to in the face of increased criticism and pressure, so there would be a major risk in locating in Montana (which has a law long on the books, but never before enforced), Wyoming (likely to toughen) and Alabama.

The only American state that has a meaningful and achievable licensing process for unaccredited schools is California's state approval, but it is not very useful in other states and, indeed, illegal in Oregon.

John Bear

 

I'm certainly no expert, but my opinion is that you probably shouldn't try to create a new university from the ground up. That is very difficult. If your new school is to be anything more than a degree-mill, it will probably take many years to fully create and will keep you from providing any useful services now, when they are most needed.

Can these exiled Afghani women function in English or in some other language in which distance-learning options already exist? If so, perhaps you should start some kind of free counseling and support service and steer them towards distance education that is already up and running.

If they only speak an Afghani language, perhaps you can find an existing university that already has all the necessary approvals that would be willing to institute some Pushtu language courses to serve them.

I'm not sure how large your target population is. The economics of creating a whole new university to serve only exiled university-ready Pushtu-speaking females may be prohibitive, while creating a degree program for them in an existing university may work.

It would still be a big job since you would have to find a host institution, locate suitable Pushtu or Dari speaking staff and acquire funding. But I think that piggy-backing on an existing university may be quicker, easier and provide a better educational product than creating another weird non-accredited on-line university from scratch.

 

Thanks for the advice. The on-line section would be aimed at the educated exiles - almost all left Afghanistan. The most difficult and expensive part would be the establishment of a residential campus in Paksitan.

During external intervention in Afghanistan, the Soviets spent 45 billion dollars, the US and alleis 20 billion. Yet it was the Deoband community funded education system that produced Taliban and inspired them to victory. Surely, if the world, and women in general, make the Afghan gender issue their defining moment for gender relations, there will eb enough supoport to see this project succeed?
I will be in California this summer (and hopefully later)and would like to meet anyone interested in this idea.

Bernard Leeman