|
Kabul University is located in Kabul, Afghanistan and was founded 1931, opened 1932 and formally established in 1947. It is attended by 7,000 students, of which 1,700 are women. The school is still recovering from the civil war and Taliban rule.
It is estimated that the university will need US$64 million to function again on a basic level. In January 2004, the campus boasted only 24 computers and one stethoscope. As part of its recovery program, Kabul University has established partnerships with four foreign universities, including Purdue.
In the mid-1990s, the university was a battle ground between the
fundamentalist Shia Muslim group Hezb-i-Wahdat and supporters of the
Afghan president at the time, Burhanuddin Rabbani, an alumn. Trees on the campus still show signs of bullet damage, fences remain crumbled from shells, and paths are still obstructed by rocket craters. Many books in the library show damage from bullets. Seven damaged books in particular are preserved behind glass as a reminder of the past.
During the reign of the Taliban, faculty members earned only US$40 a month.
In the 1960s foreign-educated professors populated the campus, exposing the new Afghan generation to topics such as communism, feminism and capitalism. Students influenced during this era include Ahmed Shah Massoud and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
| 
