Over five years of Taliban rule, Afghanistan’s universities have undergone significant changes in both their academic and administrative staff. The previous report in this series examined the scale of dismissals, downsizing, transfers, and departures among university professors. This report looks at why professors have been removed, dismissed, or affected by downsizing. Cases documented between 2021 and 2026 point to a pattern in which administrative decisions have been accompanied by ideological, religious, and ethnic considerations.
Changes in University Leadership
One of the earliest signs of this shift emerged at Kabul University. In September 2021, the Taliban removed Mohammad Osman Baburi, the university’s president and a PhD holder, and replaced him with Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat, who held a bachelor’s degree. The appointment sparked widespread opposition within the university, and around 70 members of the teaching staff resigned. Ghairat remained in the position only briefly before being replaced by Osama Aziz, who holds a PhD in Fiqh and Law from the International Islamic University Islamabad in Pakistan.
Herat University also underwent a leadership change in the months following the Taliban takeover. Abdul Aziz Nomani, a professor at the Faculty of Sharia, was appointed president by order of the Taliban prime minister in February 2022. Around two years later, he was removed over allegations of “administrative corruption.” Sheikh Abdul Ghafar Abu-Hekmat, who had previously worked in the Taliban’s ideological affairs section, was then appointed president of Herat University.
Changes in university leadership became more widespread in the following years. In 2023, university professors told Radio Azadi Afghanistan that Akram-Shah Asim had been appointed president of Kandahar University and Mohammad Yaqub Haqqani president of Khost University. Both, they said, came from the madrasa system. The same report also documented the appointment of people close to the Taliban to deputy and academic positions.
A 2025 study published in Studies in Higher Education examined the leadership structures of 40 public universities in Afghanistan and the backgrounds of 160 senior administrators. It found that experienced administrators with academic qualifications had been systematically replaced by predominantly Pashtun men loyal to the Taliban’s ideology. Most had been educated in Pakistani religious seminaries, while some had also participated in the Taliban’s armed insurgency. The researchers describe this as a shift away from merit-based university management toward appointments shaped by madrasa education, ethnic ties, and ideological loyalty. The study also argues that these changes have affected universities as spaces for questioning and critical thinking.
Replacing University Professors with Religious Clerics
On May 7, 2025, Hasht-e Subh reported that 15 religious clerics had been appointed as lecturers at Al-Biruni and Parwan universities. At the same time, 16 existing academic staff members were removed from teaching positions and transferred to administrative posts. According to the report, most of those appointed were graduates of religious seminaries in Pakistan.
The trend has not been limited to Al-Biruni and Parwan. In a list obtained by Hasht-e Subh in February 2026, at least 76 professors from 17 public universities were named. Most had taught in faculties of Sharia and Islamic Studies. Sources told the newspaper that the dismissed professors had been replaced by clerics affiliated with the Taliban. The list included universities in Kabul, Kunar, Balkh, Badakhshan, Takhar, Khost, Faryab, Jawzjan, Baghlan, Al-Biruni, Herat, Ghor, Bamyan, and Nangarhar.
The same Hasht-e Subh report, citing sources familiar with the matter, says the Taliban have established an institution called “Jami’a Abdullah bin Masoud” under the group’s “Jami’a Takhassosat.” According to the sources, the institution recruits madrasa graduates to teach at universities. They also alleged that it awards PhD certificates to Taliban members and clerics close to the group, while assessments of the religious beliefs of Sharia professors and their dismissal are also handled through the institution.
Crackdown on Critical Professors
Alongside administrative removals, professors who have criticized the Taliban have also faced detention and pressure. Faizullah Jalal, a professor at Kabul University, was arrested in January 2022 after publicly criticizing the Taliban.
In October 2024, Javid Momand, a Kabul University professor and political analyst, was also arrested by the Taliban’s intelligence service. Mohammad Anwar Panahi, head of the Faculty of Economics at Abu Rayhan University, was arrested in July 2024 and, according to Scholars at Risk, was beaten while in detention.
Religious and Ethnic Pressure
Pressure on professors has not been limited to their political views. At Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University in Kunar, 12 professors were forced to resign in December 2024. Reports linked the move to allegations of ties to Salafi groups.
Bamyan University has also been the subject of reports of widespread dismissal of Hazara professors. In May 2025, the Taliban cut 53 positions at the university, including 34 academic positions. Reports said that most of the professors affected were Hazara and held master’s or doctoral degrees, while positions held by Pashtun professors were retained. Earlier, according to an investigation by Etilaatroz, at least 49 Hazara professors had been dismissed from Bamyan University or forced to leave their positions. Sources described the process as discriminatory and part of a broader pattern of ethnic exclusion within the university system.
A report by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), drawing on information from the human rights organization Rawadari, says Taliban authorities have also used ethnic and religious criteria in discriminatory ways in appointments and dismissals, alongside ideological loyalty. The report says that during the restructuring of the Ministry of Higher Education and universities in the first half of 2025, non-Pashtun staff in areas including Kabul, Panjshir, and Bamyan were disproportionately affected by the elimination of positions. It also reports that some Hazara professors were dismissed or forced to transfer to universities in predominantly Pashtun areas.
Overall, what has happened in Afghanistan’s universities over the past five years goes beyond a reduction in the number of professors. Changes in the composition of academic staff and restrictions on critical discussion have also affected the academic environment. Afghanistan’s score on the Academic Freedom Index fell from 0.26 in 2021 to 0.09 in 2025, a decline that also points to narrowing academic freedom in the country.
RM Media documented the scale of professor dismissals and departures in Afghanistan. Read the report here.
