Global Learning Portal - Afghanistan Higher Education Portal (HEP) About

About HEP

HEP has seven "activity streams" to fulfill its professional and institutional development goals:

• Institutional Development — Partner institutions are producing focused institutional development plans which establish both mechanisms and management systems for continuous improvement.

• Professional Development Centers — Professional Development Centers have been developed at eight institutions for faculty to build their expertise thru research and training in computers and new pedagogical methods. The HEP PDC national training team makes visits to all 16 institutions.

• English Language Testing and Training — Participants are gaining English language capacities appropriate for their participation in teaching and leadership. Basic English Training at the Institutions begins in Jan08.

• Teacher Preparation — Faculty and institutions are participating in a comprehensive assessment of pedagogy, subject matter and disciplinary studies, and education administration. Training is planned for subject specific areas in 2008.

• Study Abroad — Study Abroad (SA) works to support overall HEP objectives by providing appropriate training and advanced educational opportunities overseas. HEP currently sponsors 18 Masters candidates at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Indiana University. There are also 16 faculty members currently participating in a six month Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate program at the Southeast Asia Ministry of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Regional Language Centre (RELC) in Singapore.

Study Abroad also develops short-term training opportunities in areas including institutional development, accreditation and standards, credit systems, registrars, leadership, and other educational systems management areas identified by the MoHE.

• Afghan Masters Degree — The Afghan Master of Education Program is taking shape with an office at Kabul Education University. The Planning and Design Teams are busy with admission, administration, and curriculum design.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Click here to send an email to the HEP team.

HEP Education Partners

HEP is administered by the Academy for Educational Development in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Indiana University. Together they implement a project design that is structured to address the objectives established by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

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The Professional Development stream engages Faculty of Education members in computer training, pedagogy training and in fostering intellectual inquiry.

The stream has established well-equipped and comfortably furnished resource centers for instructors at eight institutes of higher education across the north of the country. The centers have 8-12 computer stations with internet connectivity, projectors for modeling computer tasks and networking capabilities. The Higher Education Project portal is made available to instructors through these centers.

The pedagogy training has covered Syllabus Design and the function of a syllabus, Course and Unit Design and the purpose in planning and Critical Thinking for deeper understanding by learners through problem-based structures in the classroom.

The stream also produces a bi-monthly academic journal that introduces instructors to new teaching ideas and concepts which are expanded upon in the training activities. Educational awareness posters to encourage youth to become teachers are created and published on a regular basis and delivered to the institutes during HEP staff visits. You can find the journals by visiting the Library page.