The Lower House of the Afghan Parliament due to differences between the MPs, failed to approve the Higher Education Law.
The Law contains seven chapters and 72 articles and was sent to the Lower House for approval.
The usage of the words: Pohanton and Dari Danishgah in article three of the Law caused some verbal and even physical confrontation between the MPs.
The Lower House discussed the Higher Education Law during which the MPs expressed their rejection over four provisions in the Law.
The first issue is- usage of the words Pohanton and Danishgah (University) in the Law. The second issue is regarding the procedure of ranking the university lecturers, which was mentioned just in Pashto.
The third issue of the Law is regarding the rules laid down for setting up a private university. It's mentioned that those who establish private universities, should have an Afghan citizenship and must be able to speak in one of the official languages. And regarding the forth issue, the Law states that university lecturers must be able to speak in two official languages. Among all the issues, the first one regarding the mentioning of the words Pohanton and Danishgah
(University) received maximum objections from the MPs.
Aryan Yoon, MP said, "All those who don't accept only one word of Pohenton (university), how can we accept all Dari words then how can democracy be realised."
Qazi Rahila Saleemi, MP said, "The word of Danishgah (university) is a Dari word and not an Iranian word, we have lots of words like Zaishgah (Maternity), Tafrigah (Recreation) and ....These words are not Iranian.The MPs are reacting for no reason."
A number of MPs requested to resend the Law to the Commission for its consultation.
A number of Parliamentarians believe that the words Pohanton and Danishgah (university) should be removed from this Law because it may create an opportunity for the enemies of the country to misuse it and the students may also face numerous problems.