This year’s Kankur (public university entrance examination) results were full of challenges and a sweet taste of achievements. The fact that tens of thousands of boys and girls in our country still have their eyes on universities. Despite many restrictions, they are preparing for the exam, and getting good grades is promising. The Taliban group is against the educational curriculum, academic culture, and people’s enthusiasm for learning science and acquiring skills beyond religious concepts’ scope.
Since the day, the group regained power, the Taliban has not spared any effort to create restrictions against contemporary teachings in action and speech. Last year, during the first months of his ministry (October 4, 2021), Mawlawi Abdul Baqi Haqqani announced in an official meeting that there should be no expectations from those who studied in Afghanistan in the last twenty years. He promised that the Taliban government would change the foundations of education according to Taliban values. A few weeks before his official speech, he said that bachelor’s and doctorate degrees are not valuable persons in Afghanistan. Government employees should learn religious sciences. Now, despite the rule of that group, people do not stop trying and make the most of the smallest loopholes.
This resistance and steadfastness of the people is a source of encouragement. The inability of the Taliban to completely stop the university education system leads to the strength of our society. People’s insistence on the right to education forces the Taliban to continue Kankur exams and not close the doors of academic houses or change them to religious places.
Top Ten Toppers of the Kankur 1401
S/No |
Name | Exam Score | Province |
University |
1 | Sulaiman | 355.42 | Herat | Herat Medical University |
2 | Mohd Shabir | 355.32 | Kabul | Kabul Medical University |
3 | Hedayat | 354.09 | Herat | Herat Medical University |
4 | Mohd. Zia | 353.93 | Ghazni | Kabul Medical University |
5 | Mohd. Aziz | 353.72 | Kunduz | Kabul Medical University |
6 | Mansor Beig | 353.49 | Kabul | Kabul Medical University |
7 | Sayed Mohsin | 352.14 | Balkh | Balkh Medical University |
8 | Najibullah | 352.09 | Bamyan | Kabul Medical University |
9 | Mustafa | 352.09 | Kabul | Kabul Medical University |
10 | Mohd. Abdullah | 352.09 | Kabul | Kabul Medical University |
Despite this, the Taliban have imposed serious restrictions on the educational and academic society of Afghanistan. One of the obvious negative points of the results of the competition is the decrease in the number of participants. In 2019, the number of subscribers was about 200 thousand volunteers. In 2021, when the exam was held under the shadow of the Taliban but during the Islamic Republic, the number of participants was nearly 180 thousand. This year, in the shadow of violence and the anti-school of the Taliban, a little less than 125,000 people have participated in the public entrance exam.
This means that this year compared to the previous year, about 55 thousand fewer students participated in the exam, and compared to the previous two years, around 75 thousand fewer students participated in the Kankur exam. The excluded students are from different walks of life. Some have no hope of continuing their studies and instead of going to universities, they have chosen to work in Iranian factories, and Pakistani markets, or travel illegally to Western countries. Some people don’t have enough money to continue their education and have turned to work as hucksters, working in mines, shopkeeping, and maybe even begging. However, the majority of those excluded are girls. The Taliban have imposed many restrictions on the education of girls. The cloth of girls, gender segregation, restricting the choice that how they select their field of studies, and extensive advertisements against the social role of women, all have had an impact on the low participation of girls in the Kankur exam.
In both the exams of 2021 and 2020, the girls’ participants were the ten top winners of the Kankur examination. In 2021, Mrs. Selgi, the daughter of Musa Khan, and the year before, Mrs. Shamsia, the daughter of Mohammad Nasim, were ranked first. Shamsia, a girl whose father was a coal mine worker, became one of the stars of the year, she was known as a growing symbol of Afghanistan. Her speeches and interviews in the media motivated the youths to study hard.
The success of Ms. Selgi, who took the exam during the Republic, and her exam result exam was announced by the Taliban administration, was also welcomed throughout Afghanistan. It was a symbol of people’s perseverance against the Taliban’s rule for women, freedom, and education.
This year, in the shadow of the Taliban, unfortunately, there is not even a woman among the top 10 people in the Kankur results table. The Taliban group has pushed society back to this point during their one-year administration. With this setback, we can estimate the cost of continuing the Taliban rule of Afghanistan. The message of this situation is the serious need to fight against the Taliban.
A father proudly poses in photo with his Kankur winner daughter
Taliban attack on schools and universities is not the whole story; People’s resistance continues. A father in Nangarhar proudly published the photo of his daughter who succeeded in the competition in the media and wrote that “I am proud of my daughter who has succeeded in this year’s competition in the field of computer science in Nangarhar.” Addressing the former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, who said that the Taliban represent the culture of Pashtuns, he said “Azanga is a proud daughter of Shinwar from Pashtun generation, who like to help the country gain political, economic and social prestige with the power of knowledge.”
Against Talabani’s ruling, Ms. Azanga’s father published his daughter’s photo in the media with a common veil and with her uncovered face, while her beautiful hair is also visible. Against Talabani’s norms, he also mentioned his daughter’s name and thus resisted the anti-educational and anti-woman wave imposed on our country. Among the bitterness of Kankur, this message of our landsman is very sweet.
The Light of Kaaj (Pine) on Kankur 1401 (2022)
This year was the year of a Kaj – an educational center. The boys and girls who had been studied there brandished the flag of modern Afghanistan with their blood, sores, and resistance in an inspiring and very impressive way. On the morning of September 30 this year, a terrorist attack had been taken place at Kaaj educational center. This tragedy in the west of Kabul shocked Afghanistan, and the sound of tens of boys and girls who were busy preparing for the Kankur exam was heard in all corners of the world. Not only heard but it caused the anger and protest of millions of people. More than 50 students were killed and dozens of others were injured.
The names of Nargis, Umm al-Banin, Marzia, Hajar, and many other victims of the Kaj tragedy were mentioned many times in many reports and analyses in different languages. By reviewing their stories, some parts of the light and darkness of our society were revealed. A few pages from Miss. Marzia’s Dairy became a source of pride for the young generation of Afghanistan. From those few limited lines, there was a lot of awareness and awakening. His manuscript was translated into foreign languages and many politicians, writers, men, and women around the world read it, hesitated, and cursed extremism and Talibanism.
Fatima Amiri, the Kankur Winner and one of the Kaaj Attack Survivors
Among the dead and wounded in the terrorist attack on Kaaj Educational Center (KEC), many of them claimed to be the first in the list of winners. Some of the wounded participated in the Kankur exam with sore bodies and wounded minds. Ms. Fatima Amiri, who lost one of her eyes and the function of her ear in the Kaaj disaster, passed the entrance exam with 313 marks in the field of Information Technology at Kabul University. It said that among the first 10 students on the list of successful candidates for the Kankur exam, four toppers had studied Kankur preparation at Kaaj educational center.
The bitterness of killing the brilliant and blossoming Marzia is unforgettable, but Fatima’s motivation and success are also very pleasant and hope for covering the sorrows of the Kaaj attack. Since the terrorists and anti-science groups could not stop the light the victory of the girls and boys of Kaaj and their red light can be found throughout the list of results of this year’s competition, our nation will also win in the national battlefield of the country and the future will belong to those who know that work, freedom, education, and justice are their rights, not mercy of Taliban to beg for it.
Younus Negah-Member of Editorial Board and Analyst, Hasht-e Subh Daily