The Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) said that additional campuses of private universities in capital Kabul and in the provinces, which were opened without coordination with the MoHE, were closed.

“The Ministry of Higher Education made the decision to improve and strengthen the laws and procedures of the ministry,” said Ziah Hashimi, a spokesman for the MoHE.

Gul Rahman Qazi, head of a private higher education organization, said that the closure of additional branches of private universities will affect the country’s educational sector.

“In general, it does not benefit the society and the people. But as the government is responsible for the society and people, it doesn’t benefit the government either,” he said.

Meanwhile, the heads of private higher education called on the interim government to rescind their decision.

“One of the reasons for (additional campuses) is to attract more students from the area,” said Bahram Bahri, head of a private organization of higher education.

Habibullah Baghlani, a university head, said that the interim government has the right to close campuses down if the university lacks a license for additional campuses.

“When it is investigated and found out that they lack a license, then they are right to close them,” he said.

Earlier, the union of private universities said that the enrollment of students has dropped by 70 percent compared to before.