Abstract
Higher education is considered an important tool for the overall development of any country, and it holds true in the context of Afghanistan as well. At the same time, a good eco-environment in terms of political will, leaders’ farsighted vision, a fair budget, good infrastructure, and a good teaching community are some of the basic requirements for higher education to move in the direction of new and higher horizons. However, due to the ongoing war during the last couple of decades, the country’s education system has become out of reach for a substantial part of the population due to poverty, lack of infrastructure, refugees and internally displaced, digital division, etc., critically affecting the education equity. This systematic review examines India’s education diplomacy in addressing the inequities in Afghanistan’s education system and making them more equitable. Education was further dilapidated with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Afghanistan is caught between a war and a pandemic and suffers from a double whammy in losses. Subsequently, given their chilling effects, higher education becomes devoid of multiples equities, including education. However, because of their historical and geo-civilizational ties, India has focused on development diplomacy in general and education diplomacy (E.D) in particular to improve educational infrastructures.
Highlights
Protecting human rights is essential for promoting and protecting education generally, as well as ensuring educational equity
A literature search was done in all major databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google scholar search engines by using the keywords such as “COVID-19” OR “Pandemic” OR “Educational Diplomacy” OR “Educational Policy” OR “Foreign Policy” OR “Higher Education” OR “Bi-lateral Agreements” OR “Equity” AND “India” AND “Afghanistan.” We searched for articles published from 1980 to 17 July 2021
Based on the available evidence from the governments and the profile of Afghan students who have benefited through the bi-lateral relations in advancing their careers, we present a critical analysis and the way forward to improve the equity gaps in Afghanistan’s education system
Summary
Protecting human rights is essential for promoting and protecting education generally, as well as ensuring educational equity. Afghanistan is being sandwiched and haunted by the double whammies given the war and pandemic. In this scenario, two important questions emerged: Would a war or a pandemic impact education in general, education equity? Achieving education equity requires some basic needs such as monetary resources for educational institutional equitable funding. For education equity, the students require good quality and higher standard content. Would students be provided with access to high-quality content that fit their educational needs? Financial resources, economic fairness, inclusivity, maintenance of academic standards, good-quality and high-standard content, etc., are important considerations. The major question is, can a country devastated by war and pandemics ensure these basic requirements to achieve education equity? Would India’s education diplomacy toward Afghanistan contribute to achieving education equity in the prevailing scenario?
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