Modernizing The Ussr Era Curriculum For Electrical Engineering At Kabul Polytechnic University
- Conference
- Location
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Austin, Texas
- Publication Date
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June 14, 2009
- Start Date
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June 14, 2009
- End Date
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June 17, 2009
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
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Engineering Education in Africa, Asia and the Mid-East Region
- Tagged Division
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International
- Page Count
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11
- Page Numbers
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14.885.1 - 14.885.11
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--4754
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/4754
- Download Count
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537
Paper Authors
Bahawodin Baha University of Brighton
Tim Katz University of Brighton
Dr Tim Katz obtained a Doctorate in Solid-state Physics at Brighton Polytechnic in 1985. Instead of further specialisation in the subject area, he has diversified and now delivers product design courses as a Principal Lecturer for undergraduate and MSc levels, as well as supervising PhD students in the domain.
However, a definitive thread through this has been a commitment to education that has resulted in many course validations and accreditations, conference and journal papers and a joint editorship of a book. At an operational level, he has trained colleagues when seconded to the Centre for Learning and Teaching, and focuses on facilitation and empowerment of students to become independent, life-long learners. He also practices project-based learning in context, following many partnerships with industrial collaborators.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Modernizing the USSR era Curriculum for Electrical Engineering at Kabul Polytechnic University
Abstract
This paper discusses the challenges of modernizing the USSR-era curriculum for the department of electrical engineering (EE) at Kabul Polytechnic University (KPU), which was put in place several decades ago. A new curriculum has been proposed to address the short coming of the old curriculum and to integrate experimental work at its core because of the lack of suitable industrial base in the country. The paper outlines the present situation, considers important challenges, and discusses the routes to progress. The discussions and conclusions outline promising directions for this work and consider the lessons learned.
1. Introduction
Kabul Polytechnic Institute was founded with the technical assistance from the USSR in 1963. The Polytechnic had eleven degree awarding departments and the curriculum of all the departments were developed using models from Polytechnics that existed in the USSR at that time. Furthermore, the laboratory equipment to support the curriculum was also based on the technology in the USSR at the time. The curriculum was developed over three decades ago and has not been updated in the light of new technological development around the world.
Since then, the beautiful campus of KPU has reverted to a wilderness and the buildings have been severely damaged due to neglect and war damage. Furthermore, some of the academics have been killed or forced to leave the country and those who stayed behind have been isolated from the rest of the world for decades. In addition, the learning resources such as libraries, laboratories and IT equipment have been looted or burned during the war.
After the intervention of the international community and the establishment of new government in Afghanistan in 2002, several new universities and colleges have been founded predominantly in northern and central Afghanistan. Regrettably, such institutions were established for political expediency without a cohesive strategic plan. At the same time, Kabul Polytechnic, that only had three faculties was converted to a University and has been renamed as KPU.
Most of the international community sponsored projects are primarily concentrated on security in the country. However, infrastructure projects in road building, agriculture and telecommunication communication networks have also benefited compared to some other sectors. These improvements imply increased servicing and a greater requirement for trained technical staff.
Baha, B., & Katz, T. (2009, June), Modernizing The Ussr Era Curriculum For Electrical Engineering At Kabul Polytechnic University Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--4754
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