Autonomy of Public Institutions of Higher Education in Afghanistan

Autonomy of academic institutions is vital for innovation and growth and their autonomy is directly linked with the perspective of the government in relation to their activity and its interference in the affairs of academic institutions. In the case of Afghanistan, however, the scope and nature of autonomy are misunderstood, and thus, in view of the laws in force, the Ministry of Higher Education enjoys a mandate to micro-manage academic institutions in all spheres of operation. This study is an attempt to explain various dimensions of the autonomy of academic institutions and explain the extent to which they are observed in Afghanistan. This paper finds out, through a review of literature based on descriptive and critical methods that autonomy has four dimensions: academic, organizational, financial, and staffing. In Afghanistan, public institutions of higher education enjoy qualified academic autonomy. Thus, for instance, Articles 27 and 28 of the Regulation on bachelor's degree Education fix the number, format, and form of examination questions as well as the timeline for checking papers and official declaration of results. In relation to organizational autonomy, it appears the same is not awarded to public institutions. Thus, Article 20 of the Law on Civil Higher Education states that the chancellor of a university is appointed based on the proposal of the Minister of Higher Education and with the approval of the President of Afghanistan. Also, the financial autonomy of public institutions is qualified. Article 65 of the Law stipulates that the operating and development budget of institutions is prepared by them, however, it is processed through the Ministry of Higher Education as a consolidated budget of the Ministry. Lastly, Articles 39 and 70 of the Law on Civil Higher Education Law indicate that public institutions of higher education do not enjoy staffing autonomy in relation to the recruitment of academic and administrative staff. Keywords: Higher Education, Organizational Autonomy, Financial Autonomy, Academic Autonomy, Staffing Autonomy