Financial structures during the Covid-19 pandemic have been completely devastated both at the national as well as international level. This has seemingly taken a severe toll on the financing activities required for education and the development of educational infrastructure. Even though several countries have taken up the rightful tasks of facilitating online education and the continuation of teaching through several online portals, there is still a long way to go. According to the reports of UNESCO, a large chunk of the countries that have been severely affected by the pandemic, not just from the perspective of health and safety but also from the perspective of economic stability, have taken decisions to redirect funds from education towards healthcare.
The Impending Recession and its Impacts on Education
The pandemic has brought about a total halt in economic activity across the globe and this has led to severe shortfalls in budgets of developing countries of Asia like Afghanistan. These countries have been spending a major portion of their educational budgets towards servicing public sector debts. This means that the public sectors of these economies are having to borrow large sums of money from more well-off nations. The lockdowns that have been enforced by almost all governments have led to a disruption in the supply chain of major suppliers and they have not been able to meet the demands of the public. Such a shortfall is characteristic of a major recession that is looming over the heads of most developing countries like Afghanistan. During such situations, education must never take a back seat and it must be emphasised all the more to continue the development of the national human resource.
The Hit was taken by the Educational Sector of Afghanistan
During such a global health crisis Afghanistan’s economy has taken a major hit and a recent UNDP report suggests that by 2023, the GDP of Afghanistan is set to reduce by 17% which will inevitably impact the financial inputs towards educational infrastructure. Moreover, the job sector outside of typical agricultural professions is set to reduce by 67% due to this. This is a concerning fact since the result of higher education in Afghanistan has become questionable with this growing job insecurity. The deeper social impact of this in Afghanistan is that several students have quit higher education and taken to business or manual labour to help support their families during this time of crisis.
How Private Institutions can Help
Private educational institutions with renowned accreditations and a world-class educational infrastructure like Sharda University offers scholarships based on merit to international students from Afghanistan. Afghani students who have been held back due to their economic distress can avail such opportunities and secure a professional degree that can get them lucrative jobs both in India and in Afghanistan or any other foreign country as well. Enrolling for a professional course in finance or management can ensure well-paying jobs via campus placement for such afghani students who can then support their families back home.
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