Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) Higher Education Development Program (HEDP) Operations and Monitoring Support Team (OMST)
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Assessment
June, 2021 Operation and Monitoring Support Team
Table of Contents
Table of Contents 2 Background 3 Introduction to HEDP project: 3 Information and Communications Technology Centers 3 Objectives of the ICTs Assessment: 4 Methodology: 4 Executive Summary: 5 Demographic Information 6 Key Findings and Recommendations 7 Findings: 7 ICT Management and Arrangements: 7 Utilization of ICT Centers: 8 Relevance and Effectiveness 10 Speed of internet 10 ICTs enhancing teaching and learning 11 E-learning during lockdown 12 Effectiveness of the e-learning 14 Extension of ICT Centers: 15 Capacity Development Programs: 15 Challenges and Recommendations: 15 Part C: Annexes- Survey Questions and Graphs. 17
Page 2 of 39
Background Introduction to HEDP project: Higher Education Development Program (HEDP) is a national multi-donor funded, government- led Program supported by the World Bank through IDA and ARTF. The overall objective of the program is to “increase access to, and improve the quality and relevance of, higher education in Afghanistan”. The HEDP supports the NHESP-II 2015-2020, which aims to develop the higher education sector by expanding enrollment, improving quality, and orienting higher education to promote the future economic and social development of Afghanistan. MoHE has implemented several key initiatives successfully under the Higher Education Development Project (HEDP) since 2016. These initiatives include the introduction of outcome- based education and student-centered learning (OBE-SCL), with more than 2,000 academic members of public and private universities trained and practicing OBE-SCL; the establishment of Quality Assurance and Accreditation system to ensure quality at all higher education institutions both public and private. So far 56 universities have been accredited nationally, including 20 public universities; promotion of development-oriented research among Afghan lecturers by awarding over 150 research projects both individual and groups; and several other initiatives such as the establishment of ICT’s, Research Centers, several lecture blocks and female dormitories, and capacity building programs for administrative and academic staff of public universities, including the award of over 400 master and 50 Ph.D. scholarships. HEDP has two components which include the program component (Higher Education Development Program) coming under component one and also Operations, Monitoring and Support Team (OMST), coming under component two of the program.
Information and Communications Technology Centers The objective of establishing ICT centers and IT or ICT facilities at public universities is to support the use of ICTs to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the higher education. HEDP established 12 ICT centers at KEU, SZU, Konar, Takhar, Paktya, Ghazni, Faryab, Bamyan, KMU, Baghlan, KPU, and Alberoni universities. Apart from establishing ICT centers at public universities, the program also provided IT equipment and installed solar systems in public universities and higher education institutes. The program has awarded and completed 40 IT equipment projects, which also included packages of PC Lab. Likewise, the HEDP also provided solar systems for six universities. As a response to the covid-19, the program decided to scale up the ICT and IT-based activities and facilities to cover more public universities and higher education institutes. This initiative was aimed to help the effective implementation of e-learning through HELMS and other platforms. The program identified 18 projects including the IT equipment, networking, and solar system facilities for 16 public universities and higher education institutes. The above-mentioned projects are either in the procurement or implementation process.
In order to ensure the full functionality of the established ICT centers, the project has put in place the ICTs scorecard review process which is undertaken annually. The scorecard is composed of four indicators: a) Students and PCs ratio, b) Technician and PCs ratio, c) ICTs utilization by the student; and d) ICTs utilization by the academic members. The recent ICTs scorecard review indicated the functionality of 10 ICT centers out of 12.
Page 3 of 39
HEDP also provided technical support to the ministry of higher education and public universities in providing opportunities for upgrading the knowledge and skills of ICTs technicians. A series of training programs were designed and conducted over the past five years of the HEDP life span. In those training programs, more than 60 technicians have been trained in a variety of topics, including, e-learning technical skills training workshops, basic and advanced network administration workshops. Objectives of the ICTs Assessment:
The specific objectives of the assessment included the following:
• To assess the relevance, effectiveness, sustainability, and outcomes of the established ICT centers at public universities; • To assess the effectiveness of ICTs services in enhancing teaching and learning in the higher education system; • To assess the extent of ICTs utilization in e-learning and teaching during the covid19 lockdowns; and • To identify challenges and provide useful recommendation and take appropriate measures to overcome the challenges and improve the use of ICTs in enhancing teaching and learning; Methodology: This assessment was conducted through a survey questionnaire. A close-ended and open-ended questionnaire survey was conducted across 12 universities where the project established ICTs. The key respondents in this assessment survey were mainly the students, academic members, and ICT leads. Students ranging from 15 to 20 in number were targeted for the assessment in each university. Similarly, the same number of academic members of different disciplines were selected for the survey. Both, academic members and students were selected through a purposive sampling method. Students were picked from the university’s campus, while the academic members were selected from their faculties. Those who were available were selected and interviewed.
Page 4 of 39
Executive Summary: The beneficiaries' survey generally indicates a strong positive effect of information and communication technology on enhancing teaching and learning practices in higher education. The survey reveals that 11 of 12 ICT centers are functional and operational, contributing to improving teaching and learning pedagogies of higher education in Afghanistan. The ICT centers at Baghlan University remained closed and even not inaugurated. The university was transitioned from its original campus to another area due to security threats. The ICT center established in its original campus is closed and not utilized. The study shows that a large number of students interviewed (78%) have computer literacy skills and have access to their laptops and smartphones, utilizing the ICT services either at universities or their residential houses. Among the students, almost 74% of the students were aware of the ICT centers established in their universities. Of the total students, only 56% have confirmed that they are visiting ICT centers for different purposes, including, but not limited to, benefiting from the internet services, utilizing computers and attending other informative sessions, such as seminars, conferences, and receiving technical services from the ICT centers. Likewise, 70% of the students have said that the ICT centers are either effective or very effective in addressing their ICT needs, while more than 70% have confirmed the relevance of the ICT centers to their educational needs. Only half of the respondents have said that the internet speed at ICT centers is fast enough, while half others rated it either slow or very slow. More than half of the students believed that the ICTs services improve the teaching and learning pedagogy of higher education, providing the opportunity for both the academic members and students to access digital resources and boost their knowledge and skills of their expertise. The students also revealed that they use ICT centers for their research purposes. Many students have expressed that the ICT facilities are crucial for the student's research activities, linking them to the resources and providing opportunities to access them to the computers and technical assistance. During the lockdown, the ICTs have proved to be of significance for both academic members and students. Academic members have used the ICT facilities, including the internet, and infrastructures for providing distance learning and teaching. Of the total, 60% of the students said they received distance teaching and learning services from different platforms. WhatsApp and HELMS have been the dominant platforms used for distance learning and teaching. However, it should be explicit that distance learning and teaching in the context of this report means the exchange of data such as lectures, PowerPoints, and other material among students and academic members through various means. Students received PowerPoints, textbooks, assignments, and other helpful material from their academic members, using the means mentioned above. Only 4% of the students said they were connected to an online classroom using the zoom application. The effectiveness of distance teaching and learning is still an issue for a large number of students. Only 17% of the students have said the distance learning and teaching (sharing material and documents) were effective, while many other students rated this means of teaching and learning either not effective at all or less effective. In contrast, a large number of academic members believed that distance learning was effective in delivering their academic programs. MoHE had produced
Page 5 of 39
tutorial videos on the utilization of HELMS in 2020 to facilitate and easy the said platform for e- learning. Both students and academic members had access to view the tutoring material. There have been a number of challenges as follow: They have been described in details in the last part of the report “challenges and recommendations”. ● Baghlan ICT center is not inaugurated despite being completed two years ago. It remained unutilized due to security reasons. ● Lower internet bandwidth at the ICT centers. Graph #4 indicates a higher internet bandwidth disparity among the different ICT centers ranging from 155 MB/second to only 12 MB/second. ● Lack of regular electricity power. All ICT centers are connected to public power cable. When the power goes out, the ICT centers remain non-functional and the users cannot utilize it until the power comes back. ● Despite the tashkeel being approved for Majority of the existing ICT centers, there are still vacant positions at some universities such as KPU, KMU, Paktya and Baghlan. ● Low level of technical knowledge of students and academic members to effectively utilize the NHELM for e-teaching and learning. ● The fiber transmitting line (internet connection) of Ghzni, Wardak, Helmand, Bamyan and Faryab universities have been cut off. These universities are connected through private internet provides, having a lower bandwidth compared to fiber line. ● Low effectiveness of e-learning during the covid19. Only 17% of the surveyed students marked the e-learning as effective, while in contrasts, a large number of them said the e- learning was ineffective at all. Demographic Information For this beneficiary survey, we reached out to three types of beneficiaries: the students, academic members, and ICT technicians. The survey included 12 public universities where the project established ICT centers. At each of these universities, students and academic members, and the ICT leads were interviewed. Almost 66% of the students were male and the rest female. The students were picked up on the university’s campus. Up to 25 students were interviewed in each of the universities. Also, academic members were selected for the interview. Around 15 academic members were reached out at each of the 12 universities. The majority of them were masters, while a few others also reported being Ph.D. and Bachelor, standing at eight and 20% each. Among the academic members, 90% were male and 10% female. A large number of the academic members fall in the age group (25-30), while some 6% also belong to the age group above 50.
Figure 1: Students by Gender Figure 2: Lecturers by Qualification
Page 6 of 39
Key Findings and Recommendations Findings: ICT Management and Arrangements: The ICT centers are well managed and maintained. MoHE has developed a policy on the provision of ICT services which describes the overall ICTs administration and management, roles and regulations, responsibilities of technicians, networking, cyber security, protection and maintenance of the equipment and repairing the broken devices. The policy is shared with all ICT centers and is implemented. The assessment indicates that of the current 43 tashkeels positions (civil servant positions), only 35 have been recruited, which include the ICT managers, software and database experts, video conference in charges, and technicians. We realized that no dedicated tashakeel positions have been approved for all ICT centers. The universities have transferred the technicians from IT departments and have included the responsibilities of ICT centers’ operations in their daily tasks. However, there ToRs are not officially amended to reflect the operations of ICT centers. The MoHE should make sure all existing ICT centers have full-time dedicated tashkeel staff to ensure its proper maintenance, operationalization and sustainability. In some other instances, we also came to know that the approved tashkeel for some universities are not fully filled such as KPU, KMU, Paktya and Baghlan universities. The following table describes the status of the tashkeel positions for the established ICTs.
Table 1: Total Employees at ICT centers- Approved tashkeel staff
Approved Recruited Temporary Total No University Name Tashkeel Transferred Tashkeel Contracted Onboard (IT Dept) Sayed Jamaluddin 1 1 1 1 2 Afghan 2 Kabul Polytechnic 8 7 0 7 3 Ghazni 4 4 4 8 4 Faryab 3 3 2 5 5 Kabul Medical Sciences 9 6 0 6 6 Kabul Education 3 3 2 5 7 Alberoni 3 3 0 1 4 8 Sheikh Zayed (Khost) 4 4 1 5 9 Bamyan 2 2 1 3 10 Paktia 3 2 0 2 11 Takhar 3 3 0 3 12 Baghlan 3 0 1 1 Grand Total 43 35 12 4 51
Among the surveyed centers, we observed the existence of annual ICT plans at nine centers, while the three others including Kunar, Baghlan, and KMU universities did not have the plans. We also observed that all ICT centers had the user’s registration logs but the users were not registered in some ICTs, such as Alberoni, Bamyan, Kabul Polytechnic, and Baghlan.
Page 7 of 39
MoHE has allocated a specific budget for each ICT center for the operationalization, repairing, and maintenance of the ICT equipment. Despite having a proper arrangement at the ICT centers, the services still need to expand, and focus should be put on improving the effectiveness and efficiency. Utilization of ICT Centers: The survey indicates that 11 of the 12 established 12 ICT centers are functional, operational, and utilized. Baghlan ICT centers remain closed and unutilized due to the security reasons. The information provided by the universities confirms that all ICTs and their facilities, and spaces are being used merely for the intended purpose. All respondents have confirmed that the ICTs and resources are not used elsewhere for other purposes. Both students and academic members use the ICT centers for different purposes. The ICTs log books present different figures of the beneficiaries. At some ICTs, around 1,000 students in a month, while in others, up to 4,000 students visit. Ghazni, Faryab, KMU, and KEU ICTs are among the lowest number of its beneficiaries, while KPU, Kunar, Bamyan and Khost ICTs are reported with larger beneficiary numbers. The ICT logs also show the number of academic members utilizing ICT centers. On average, from 1 to 300 academic members use the ICT centers on monthly basis, as evident in the following tables. Table 1: Range of students and academic members visit the ICT centers per month
University Average Monthly Visits by Average Monthly Visits of students Academic Members Ghazni <1,000 <200
Faryab <1,000 <300
Kabul Medical Science <1,000 <100
Kabul Education <1,000 <200
Paktia <2000 <100
Al-Beroni <2000 <100
Takhar <2000 <200
Sheikh Zayed (Khost) <3000 <300
Bamyan <3000 <200
Kunar <4000 <100
Kabul Polytechnic almost all of the students <100
Page 8 of 39
The number provided above is also confirmed by the student’s and academic members’ surveys. The students randomly picked at the universities’ campuses, confirm that more than half of them have either visited the ICTs once or more than once in a month or/and a semester. Of the total students, around 56% have confirmed that they are visiting ICT centers for different purposes, including, but not limited to, benefiting from the internet services, utilizing computers and attending other informative sessions, such as seminars, conferences, and receiving technical services from the ICT centers. The study also expresses that 44% of the students do not visit the ICT centers. Generally, we can conclude that more than half of the students are benefiting from the ICT centers. The students have identified different reasons for not visiting the ICT centers, which include the low speed of internet connection in the ICTs, being far away from their faculties, students having their own internet connection and computer facilities to utilize, etc. A large number of the beneficiaries reported materials seeking as their primary reason for visiting ICT centers, while research purpose, e-learning (retrieving and downloading shared data), and checking social media are the other purposes reported by the beneficiaries. The following graph presents the said information.
Figure 3: Purposes of student’s visit to ICT center
It is worth mentioning that the ICT team of Kabul Medical Science University developed a system in which they register students into a domain system ( domain controller ), whenever students come to ICT center they can log in into their own accounts to access the computers of ICT center, the laws are very specific for them if they use any of the prohibited website they will be blocked for 2 months, so the internet of ICT center is being used in very beneficial way possible since the system is in pilot phase ICT Team distributed 100 student registration forms from which only 23 male and 12 female filled the forms and they were registered to utilize ICT center services. In addition, since the establishment of the WiFi-Zone at KPU, most of the students and faculty staff are using internet facilities from their smartphones or personal computers, so almost all of the students are utilizing the ICT center.
Page 9 of 39
Relevance and Effectiveness of ICT centers The intervention (establishing information and communication centers) at the public universities seems to be very relevant to the needs of students and academic members. Given the high number of students and academic members utilizing the ICT centers, and the satisfaction they have expressed, the centers are effective in addressing their needs. Almost 80% of the students have said that the ICT’s services are either effective or very effective in addressing their teaching and learning needs. More than 80% of the students have said that the services provided by the ICT centers are relevant or very relevant to their educational needs and requirements. The effectiveness of the ICT centers is also confirmed by the academic members. Of the total academic members interviewed, more than 80% of them agreed that ICT services are effective or very effective in addressing their needs. Also, they have expressed their satisfaction with the overall services provided by these centers. Speed of internet Universities are connected through the fiber internet connection, but the universities are not provided with the same bandwidth. Some have been provided a relatively higher bandwidth, while others with very lower bandwidth. A higher internet bandwidth disparity was observed among the different ICT centers. A higher internet speed at 155 MB/Second, while the lower at 12 MB/Second was reported. The MoHE needs to harmonize the internet speed considering the university’s capacity, students number and other applicable factors. The current internet speed is not responsive at all. The following graph indicates the speed of the internet by universities.
Figure 4: Internet Speed at universities
The student’s survey points out that almost half of the interviewed students have said that the speed of the internet is good to some extent, while the other half expressed their concern and
Page 10 of 39
said that the speed is slow or very slow. This information is also confirmed by the academic members, who have also suggested increasing the speed of the internet at faculties and universities. Given a large number of students, academic members, and faculty staff at a university, the existing internet speed is not responsive. At one instance, it needs harmonization across the universities, while on the other hand, it needs a substantial increase in bandwidth and speed. The survey also expresses that none of the ICTs provide Wi-Fi connections in the university's compound for the students and academic members. The Wi-Fi connection around the university campuses is vital for the students to explore more about their lectures and studies, as has been done only by KPU, till now. Two universities which include KMU and KPU have already installed Wi-Fi zone’s devices, but the access to internet is not given to students around the universities campuses.
ICTs enhancing teaching and learning A primary objective of the information and communication technology is to support the higher education system of Afghanistan and enhance the teaching and learning performances. The study expresses that the established ICT centers have greatly contributed to achieving the set objective. Almost 82% of the students said that ICTs facilities and services positively impacted their teaching and learning practices. The students have expressed that they have access to relevant information and knowledge to support their classroom learnings. Also, the students said that a few of the academic member’s showcase real-life examples, videos, and simulations using Google and other academic websites in the classrooms. students have also said that with the use of information and communication technology, they have created networks with classmates and academic members, which makes significance in resolving their issues on time and helping each other in their issues. More than 80% of the students have said that ICTs are either important or very important factors in enhancing teaching and learning. However, there is a strong consensus that ICT enhances teaching and learning, the existing facilities and utilization of ICTs in the classroom do not suffice. The facilities should be further scaled up and faculties should provide Wifi-connection to the students and academic members. Students have said that they are using their personal internet connection when they need to explore things on the internet in their classrooms or university campuses. The academic members also agreed that ICT improves the quality of teaching and learning to a great extent as evident in the following graph. More than 95% of the academic members believed that ICTs remained a vital tool for promoting research activities in the universities. They mentioned that instant access to digital resources enables them to conduct their research and publish the articles in their due times.
Page 11 of 39
Figure 5: Perspective of academic members on ICT centers improving the quality of learning and teaching
E-learning during lockdown During the covid19 outbreak in 2020, all educational institutions were closed down for around four months. To respond to the covid19 disruption, MoHE initiated HELMS for higher education to continue e-learning in the country. The expectation was that academic members would conduct online classrooms, share videos, lectures, and study materials with the students. The study does not confirm the full implementation of e-teaching and learning in the country. According to the student’s survey, around 60% of the students received learning materials from academic members during the lockdown period. Similarly, around 73% of the academic members also said they used e-teaching during the said period. 40% of students did not benefit from e- learning during the course of lockdown. A larger portion of the respondents said that they did not have access to the internet to participate in the e-learning process. However, the others also said that they did not have access to personal computers or smartphones, and the technical know-how is also a reason reported for not benefiting from e-teaching and learning.
Figure 6: Reasons, students did not receive Teaching and Learning through virtual means during COVID-19
Page 12 of 39
The study, however, indicates that 60% of the student confirmed e-learning, the concept of e- learning in the context of this report does not represent online classrooms where students and teachers interact and exchange information, but rather than that, this context means the sharing of study materials, including lectures, PowerPoints, textbooks, and others as applied in the context of e-teaching and learning in Afghanistan. Having said this, a larger number of students and academic members used HELMS and WhatsApp for sharing the study materials, while google meet and emails are also the platforms used. A small percentage of the respondents, only four percent confirmed the online classrooms through zoom. Refer to the following graph for details.
Figure 23: Means of teaching and learning received by students during COVID-19
The 40% of students who did not benefit from e-learning have used other alternative ways to continue their education. The majority of them said that they had obtained their course syllabus and were studying with themselves during the lockdown period. However, some also said that they received material and were studying with their peer classmates who had access to the internet and followed the e-learning. Some also said that they did not study during the lockdown. The following graph presents the figures and the alternative ways for continuing their education in absence of e-learning.
Figure 7: Alternative means of teaching and learning followed by students during COVID-19
Page 13 of 39
Effectiveness of the e-learning The effectiveness of e-learning depends on a number of factors, including the capabilities of its users, both students, and academic members; faster internet connectivity; technical support, and the availability of adequate infrastructural facilities and functioning e-learning platforms. Accepting the fact that e-teaching and learning is a new phenomenon in Afghanistan, it has faced numerous challenges and issues. The dominant issue has been with limited access of students and academic members to the internet and digital devices. Limited technical knowledge of the students and faculty members on e-learning platforms, lower internet speed, weak teaching and learning pedagogy are among the other factors affecting the effectiveness of e-learning in the country. According to the survey conducted, more than 50% of the respondents have said that e-learning was either very challenging or challenging for the surveyed students, however, only eight % of the respondents said it was less challenging for them. On the other hand, close to half of the respondents said e-learning was either less effective or not effective at all. Only 23% of the respondents argued that it was effective or very effective for them. In contrast, the academic member’s survey does not confirm the ineffectiveness of e-learning. More than half of the respondents said e-learning was effective or very effective, instead of doing nothing. They have also agreed with the student figures on their claims that e-learning platforms were challenging. Similar to the students, a large number of the academic members (69%) also experienced the e- learning platforms to be challenging or very challenging. Refer to the following graphs for details.
Figure 8: Effectiveness of the virtual and online teaching and learning for students
Figure 9: Level of challenges students faced while connecting online via virtual platforms
Page 14 of 39
Extension of ICT Centers:
Apart from the HEDP, the ICT centers are also supported and financed by other donors or from the ordinary budget of the MoHE. Since the establishment of the 12 ICT centers, three of them (Alberoni, Ghazni, and Takhar) have further expanded their ICT’s capacity by providing more computers and other technical required equipment. They have provided Desktop Computers, Laptop Computers, Tables, Chairs, Color Printer, Scanner, Security Camera, Water Dispenser, and other required hardware and software accessories to their ICT centers. Ghazni university also established a smart-classroom for the agriculture faculty and have installed CCTV cameras across the university campus from their own budget. Capacity Development Programs:
The ICT centers have reported a number of capacity building events they have organized for both the academic members and the students. Some of the training topics are listed as follow:
• ICT utilization training for lecturers and administrative staff (introductory, and intermediate level). • Basic computer courses for students and lecturers, in order to establish a better computer literacy. • HELMS training and workshops for both lecturers and students. • HEMIS training for lecturers and nonacademic members (administrative staff). • Office Package, PDF tools, and operation system training and workshops. • An overview of the beneficial use of the internet. • How to use digital libraries and modern technology. • Workshop about troubleshooting management. • Accounting software training (QuickBooks). • Hardware and software training. • Network Training. • Security Training. Challenges and Recommendations: The assessment has identified a number of challenges and issues which are outlined below: ● Baghlan ICT centers are not inaugurated despite being completed two years ago. The said ICT center remains closed due to security reasons. The university campus has been transitioned from Said Khail Area, the main compound of university, where the ICT center was established to Pol e Khomri. The MoHE needs to take corrective measures to enable the said ICT center to be functional and operational soon. ● Lower internet bandwidth at the ICT centers. Graph #4 indicates that the maximum internet speed is 155 MB/second, while the lowest reported to be 2 MB/second. This higher internet bandwidth disparity among the public universities must carefully be
Page 15 of 39
reviewed and harmonized. The university capacity, student numbers, academic members can be the factors harmonizing the internet bandwidth. ● The ICT centers do not have regular electric power. When the public power goes out, the ICT centers remain non-functional and the users cannot utilize it until the power comes back. A solar system can be a good alternative to enhance the effectiveness of the established ICT centers. ● Despite the tashkeel being approved for all existing ICT centers, there are still vacant positions at some universities such as KPU, KMU, Paktya and Baghlan. The ICT is managed by academic members or contracted employees in these universities. MoHE is expected to accelerate the hiring process and ensure they are recruited soon. ● The irresponsive organizational structure of the ICT centers is the other issue reported by ICT managers. Almost all of the ICT centers requested increasing their tashkeel positions both administrative and technician positions, to better support, maintain and operationalize the ICT centers. This might have been due to the vacant positions of the ICT centers. By filling them, this issue will be resolved to some extent. ● The assessment indicates that only 60% of the students could use e-learning platforms, the majority of them used NHELMS and Whatsapp. The remaining 40% of the surveyed students did not use it due to internet, digital devices, or technical difficulties. While extending the e-learning practices, the MoHE is expected to design and implement appropriate strategies to increase the number of e-learners. ● The Information provided in the survey report expresses a lower level of e-learning effectiveness. Of the total students, only 17% agreed that the e-learning platforms and practices were effective. Going forward, the MoHE is expected to improve its effectiveness by providing technical assistance to both students and academic members. Guiding tutorials can be produced and circulated with the students and academic members to enable them to utilize the platforms in the best possible way.
Page 16 of 39
Part C: Annexes- Survey Questions and Graphs.
Student Section
Kabul Education University 10 4%
Takhar University 11 5%
Bamyan University 15 7%
Kabul Polytechnic University 16 7%
Khost University 20 9%
Faryab University 20 9%
Alberoni University 21 9%
Kunar University 22 10%
Ghazni University 22 10%
Baghlan University 22 10%
Kabul Medical Science University 23 10%
Paktia University 25 11%
Figure 1: Student participation by University
Journalism 3 1%
Science 5 2%
Law 14 6%
Agriculture 28 12%
Language and Literature 29 13%
Engineering 33 15%
Computer Science 33 15%
Social Science 36 16%
Medical 46 20%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Figure 2: Student participation by Faculty
Page 17 of 39
Above 60 0 0% (46-60) 0 0% (36-45) 0 0% (26-35) 14 6% (18-25) 213 94%
0 50 100 150 200 250
Figure 3: Student participation by Age
78, 34%
149, 66%
Male Female
Figure 4: Student participation by Sex
11, 5% 3, 1%
47, 21%
56, 25%
46, 20%
64, 28%
First Class Second Class Third Class Fourth Class Fifth Class Sixth Class
Figure 5: Student participation by Class
Page 18 of 39
No 50 22%
Yes 177 78%
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Figure 6: Students' computer literacy knowledge
No 34 19%
Yes 143 81%
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Figure 7: Accessibility of students to personal laptop
No 52 23%
Yes 175 77%
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Figure 8: Students access to personal smart phone
No 58 26%
Yes 169 74%
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Figure 9:Student’s awareness about ICT centers
No 100 44%
Yes 127 56%
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Figure 10: Student’s visit to ICT centers
Page 19 of 39
The ICT centre is far away from me 1 1% There is crowd in ICT centre 1 1% I don’t find it useful 2 3% The speed of internet in ICT centre is week 2 3% I have my own internet and laptop 6 8% I don’t have time 16 20% No response 52 65%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Figure 11: Reasons students did not visit ICT centers
Every day 12 9%
Once a semester 32 25%
Once a month 35 28%
Once a week 48 38%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Figure 12: Student’s regular visit to ICT centers
Attending seminars and other kind of learning sessions…1 1% ICT centre provides learning sessions for us 3 2% ICT centre conduct trainings 3 2% Visiting ICT centre 4 2% ICT technicians help me in resolving my personal… 4 2% Attending training sessions conducted by ICT centre 6 3% Connecting to ICT’s Wi-Fi zone 35 19% ICT centre provides computer for us 62 34% ICT centre provides internet for us 67 36%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Figure 13:ICT center’s services received by students
Page 20 of 39
For Seeking learning material 68 31% For research purpose 61 27% For E-learning 51 23% For digital library 24 11% Checking social media 17 8% Other 1 0%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Figure 14: Purposes of student’s visit to ICT center
Effective 68 54%
Very effective 37 29%
Less effective 19 15%
Not effective 2 2%
I don’t know 1 1%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Figure 15:ICT center’s effectiveness in addressing needs of students
Not relevant 1 1% I don’t know 1 1% No response 1 1% Less relevant 17 13% Very relevant 22 17% Relevant 87 67%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Figure 16: Relevancy of ICT center’s intervention for student’s activities
Page 21 of 39
Fast 64 50%
Slow 46 36%
Very slow 10 8%
I don’t know 6 5%
Very fast 3 2%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Figure 17: Satisfaction of students from the Speed of the internet in the established ICT centers
I don’t know if it improves learning and teaching 12 9%
It improves learning and teaching in less extent 44 34%
ICT centre improves learning and teaching in great extent 73 57%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Figure 18: ICT center contribution in improvement of learning and teaching for students
Yes 106 82%
No 23 18%
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Figure 19: ICT’s services assistance in student ‘s research activities
Very important 56 44%
Important 55 43%
Less important 15 12%
I don’t know 2 2%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Figure 20: Importance of ICT center for improving teaching and learning of students
Page 22 of 39
91, 40% 136, 60%
No Yes
Figure 21: Teaching and learning services received by students through virtual means during COVID-19
Other 5 3%
I didn’t have computer knowledge 8 6%
No response 8 6%
I didn’t understand the virtual means 11 8%
I didn’t have smart phone 20 14%
I didn’t have personal computer 32 22%
I didn’t have internet 61 42%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Figure 22: Reasons, students did not receive Teaching and Learning through virtual means during COVID-19
Page 23 of 39
Through Zoom 10 4%
Through email 12 5%
Through Google meet 20 9%
Through Whats-app 90 39%
Through HELMS 98 43%
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Figure 23: Means of teaching and learning received by students during COVID-19
I didn’t study at all during covid19 11 5%
I was studying with an academic member living by 18 8% myside I receive material and information from my peer 89 37% classmate I had purchased text books and was studying them with 121 51% myself
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Figure 24: Alternative means of teaching and learning followed by students during COVID-19
Page 24 of 39
Less challenging 17 8%
No response 29 14%
Very challenging 44 21%
I don’t know 56 27%
Challenging 62 30%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Figure 25: Level of challenges students faced while connecting online via virtual platforms
Less effective 73 34%
I don’t know 60 28%
Effective 36 17%
No response 14 6%
Not effective 21 10%
Very effective 12 6%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Figure 26: Effectiveness of the virtual and online teaching and learning for students
Not effective 12 5%
Very effective 15 7%
Less effective 30 13%
No response 50 22%
I don’t know 56 25%
Effective 64 28%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Figure 27: Effectiveness of the ICT center in distance learning of students
Page 25 of 39
38, 17%
41, 18% 148, 65%
Yes No response No
Figure 28: Availability of electricity at ICT centers mentioned by students
Lecturer section
11.7% 11.0% 11.0% 10.3% 10.3% 10.3% 9.7% 8.3% 6.9% 6.2% 17 16 16 15 15 15 3.4% 14 12 10 9 5 0.7% 1
Figure 29: Number of Lecturers participated by 12 universities
Page 26 of 39
25%
14% 13% 12% 12% 10% 36 6% 6% 21 19 18 17 15 2% 8 8 3
Figure 30: Number of Lecturers participated by Faculties
57%
30% 82
44 8% 6% 0% 11 8 0 (26-35) (36-45) (18-25) (46-60) Above 60
Figure 31: Lecturer’s age
Male 131 90%
Female 14 10%
Figure 32: Lecturers by Gender
Page 27 of 39
Master 104 72%
Bachelor 29 20%
PhD 12 8%
Figure 33: Lecturers by Qualification
Yes 140 97%
No 5 3%
Figure 34: Lecturers' computer literacy knowledge
Yes 139 96%
No 6 4%
Figure 35: Lecture’s access to personal laptops
Yes 140 97%
No 5 3%
Figure 36: Lecturer's access to personal smart phone
Page 28 of 39
Yes 143 99%
No 2 1%
Figure 37: Lecturers' awareness of the ICT centers
Yes 130 90%
No 15 10%
Figure 38:Lecture's visit to ICT center
I have my own internet and laptop 8 53%
I do not have time 4 27%
The speed of internet in ICT centre is weak 2 13%
I don’t find it useful 1 7%
Figure 39: Reasons, lecturer’s did not visit the ICT Centers
Once a week 63 48% Once a Month 32 25% Every Day 28 22% Once a Semester 6 5% Never 1 1%
Figure 40:Regular visit of ICT centers by Lecturers
Page 29 of 39
' 28%
103 16% 15% 15% 13% 13%
59 57 57 49 48
Connecting to ICT’s Visiting ICT centre Attending training Attending seminars ICT technicians helpOther, please specify Wi-Fi zone sessions and other learning me in resolving my sessions personal technical issues
Figure 41: Services provided by ICT centers to their lecturers
For Seeking learning material 97 31% For research purpose 80 26% For E-learning 57 18% For digital library 42 14% Checking social media 20 6% Other, please specify 15 5%
Figure 42: Purposes of Lecturers visit to ICT center
Effective 68 52%
Very Effective 44 34%
Less Effective 17 13%
I do not Know 1 1%
Figure 43: Effectiveness of the ICT centers for Lecturers
Relevant 75 58%
Very Relevant 42 32%
Less Relevant 12 9%
I do not Know 1 1%
Figure 44: Relevancy of ICT ‘s intervention with activity and needs of Lecturers
Page 30 of 39
Speed of internet in the established ICT
Fast 77 59% Slow 34 26% Very Fast 13 10% Very Slow 5 4% I do not Know 1 1%
Figure 45: Speed of internet at ICT centers rated by lecturers
ICT centre improves learning and teaching in great extent 82 63%
It improves learning and teaching in less extent 42 32%
I don’t know if it improves learning and teaching 6 5%
Figure 46: Contribution of ICT centers in the improvement of learning and teaching for Lecturers
Yes 123 95%
No 7 5%
Figure 47: ICT center’s assistance in the research activities for Lecturers
Important 65 50%
Very Important 57 44%
Less Important 8 6%
Not Important 0 0%
I do not Know 0 0%
Figure 48: Significance of ICT centers in improving teaching and learning mentioned by Lecturers
Page 31 of 39
Yes 131 90%
No 14 10%
Figure 49: Percentage of Lecturers conducted classes during Covid19
Through WhatsApp 84 39%
Through email 49 23%
Through Google meet 33 15%
Through Zoom 27 13%
Other, specify 20 9%
Figure 50: Means of teaching and learning delivered by Lecturers during COVID-19
Challenging 63 48%
Less challenging 36 27%
Very challenging 27 21%
I do not Know 5 4%
Figure 51: Level of challenges lecturers faced while conducting classes online via virtual platforms
Page 32 of 39
Effective 68 52%
Less Effective 46 35%
Very Effective 10 8%
Not Effective 6 5%
I do not Know 1 1%
Figure 52: Effectiveness of online teaching and learning for lecturers
Yes 106 73%
No 39 27%
Figure 53: Utilization of ICT centers by lecturers for teaching and learning during covid19
Effective 61 58%
Very Effective 26 25%
Less Effective 17 16%
Not Effective 1 1%
I do not Know 1 1%
Figure 54: Effectiveness of ICT centers for online teaching and learning during covid19 rated by lecturers
Effective 48 45%
Very Effective 29 27%
Less Effective 28 26%
I do not Know 1 1%
Not Effective 0 0%
Figure 55: Effectiveness of ICT centers for distance learning rated by lecturers
Page 33 of 39
Yes 122 84%
No 23 16%
Figure 56: Availability of Electricity at ICT centers rated by lecturers
ICT lead section
Figure 57: Technician’s qualifications
Figure 58: Permanent Tashkeel
Page 34 of 39
Figure 59: Percentage of technicians received technical trainings by HEDP and other sources
Figure 60:Existance of annual plan for ICTs in 2020
Figure 61:Existance of annual progress report for ICTs
Page 35 of 39
Figure 62: Extension of equipment at ICT centers in 2020
Figure 63: Support of leadership to ICTs as a priority agenda
Figure 64:Percentage of IT capacity building programs held for lecturers and students by ICT center
Page 36 of 39
Figure 65:Promotion of ICT 's achievement on social media and university's webpages
Table 2: Range of students and academic memebrs utilize ICT centers per month\ University Average Monthly Visits by Average Monthly Visits of students Academic Members Ghazni <1,000 <200
Faryab <1,000 <300
Kabul Medical Science <1,000 <100
Kabul Education <1,000 <200
Paktia <2000 <100
Al-Beroni <2000 <100
Takhar <2000 <200
Sheikh Zayed (Khost) <3000 <300
Bamyan <3000 <200
Kunar <4000 <100
Kabul Polytechnic almost all of the students <100
Page 37 of 39
8 7 7 6 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 KPU KMU Alberoni Khost SREU Paktia Takhar Baghlan Ghazni Faryab Bamyan Kunar
Approved Tashkeel Temporary Transferred Tashkeel
Figure 66: University-wise technician’s Tashkeel
Figure 67: Initiative and activities undertaken by ICT centers during COVID-10
Figure 68:Internet Speed at universities
Page 38 of 39
Figure 69: Allocation of budget for ICT center's activities, maintenance and operations
Page 39 of 39