Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said that "for a long time, there has been an effort in the country to position schools and universities against one another” and that the distance now between these two entities has been reduced.

Haqqani made the remarks at the Sheikh Zayed University Natural Sciences Symposium in Khost province.

“Still there is a good unity between the religious scholars, seminaries, universities and schools-- for a long time, some circles have been trying to turn seminaries and universities against each other,” he said.

Speaking at the same symposium, Neda Mohammad Nadim, expressed criticism towards the shifting of Afghan academic figures abroad by “foreign countries."

“They are trying to invite our honored instructors. When they invite him abroad, there is no good dignity for the instructors, they would either work in a hotel or drive a car. This is the disgrace of Afghanistan and our instructors. We will not tolerate it,” Nadim said.

Political analysts and university instructors gave various opinions on the matter:

“A seminary is a religious entity while a university is a modern entity. Efforts to integrate seminaries and schools signifies the independent identity of these two organizations,” said Sayed Javad Sijadi, university instructor.

The acting ministers of the Interior and Higher Education provided two million Afs in aid to improve the activities of the Sheik Zahid university.