Prospects of Textile Education in Afghanistan

Afghanistan should be considered more than a war and conflict area that has much more to offer, especially in textile. If education is institutionalized in the region, many sectors will start developing, and the country can become self-sufficient in the textile field in no time. By making valuable use of its human and social capital, the country can move on from its war problems and provide a source of happiness and contentment for its citizens if proper educational opportunities are established.
There is currently no formal textile education in Afghanistan; however, there have been opportunities for Afghani textiles and their popularity worldwide that could be capitalized on if textile education is formally given to the students. The degree holders could directly use the textile degree here in fields like cloth coloring, textile designers depicting Afghanistan's cultural heritage, fashion designers using the culturally famous clothing pieces and artwork, and clothing technologists for helping the small and medium enterprises already working in the area. The textile industry's indirect use can be viewed in further teaching of the SMEs, designing the products, school teaching, and merchandiser.
Various factors have been playing their part in restricting the garment industry to perform to its fullest, from which it can be deduced that textile education is not present in the region. A study indicated that lack of security and support from the government, stiff competition from the foreign market, absence of textile factories, and less control over the large volumes of imports of the garments are some of the facets of the Afghani textile market that hinder its way for becoming a developed economic industry within the country (Faqiri, Shams & Gul, 2019). For this reason, textile education has not been yet developed, which advocates that besides having skills within the people of this land, it should have been seriously contemplated.
There have been efforts seen in collaborations between the foreign projects and the Afghani government to start formal education for promoting textile within the country. A private project from a Freiburg textile artist was introduced in Laghmani, which is in the Parwan province for assisting the women who have the talent of embroidery (Bittlingmayer et al., 2019, p. 37). It means that people are interested in making textile products if they are given an opportunity. Moreover, even it would not be necessary for a foreign textile artist to come to Afghanistan to teach and support the people for promoting textile here if there was a region's own formal textile education for the residing people.
Lately, there have been offers from other countries for Afghanistan to support its textile industry as the foreign countries think that Afghani textile has the prospect and energy to mark its place within the international market. Its textile designs that are influenced by its cultural inheritance are liked by foreign people and widely used for interior designing. Uzbekistan had offered Afghanistan to improve its economy and help in stability by investing in its textile industry (Yeniseyev, 2019). With these prospects, it could be inferred that the Afghani textile industry is assumed to prosper, which can open doors for textile students and formal textile education in the region.
There has been an initiation of projects within Afghanistan that aim to support women and girls in effective training for textile production at their homes. The projects have generated funds for skills training centers that would help in product development through weaving, knitting, cloth and silk making, stitching and tailoring, and carpet making activities (Asian Development Bank, 2003, p. 41).
Loans for graduates have already been provided who could use this money to buy their required equipment to produce and sell textile products. The centers are present for cooperative management support for the students who want in this field. These aspects could generate numerous prospects for textile education, which has become necessary for improving the country's economy. Many of the country's daunting political and financial problems could be solved if education, especially in textile, the country's strength, and cultural tradition, could be formalized and supported by the government.
In Kabul, some vocational schools for home economics were found (Sherzad, 2017, p. 4). This provides evidence that some form of teaching for textile is already taking place in Afghanistan. An example from its neighboring country, Tajikistan, could be established in Afghanistan where an intensive training course (ITC) from the Global Textiles and Clothing Program was launched with the cooperation of the Technological University of Tajikistan and Singapore's Textile and Fashion Industry training center (International Trade Centre, 2020).
Switzerland's government-funded it to promote textiles in the developing countries and assist in their employment and income generation. The same example could be used in Afghanistan's vocational schools, and foreign-funded textile training programs could be introduced within Afghanistan so that income generation could be improved and economic stability within this region could be observed.
It is not necessary to have high technology-induced sewing and stitching machines in Afghanistan to prepare modernized fashion clothes; however, first initial steps could be taken to formalize this type of education in vocational schools, and the government can take a step ahead if a large number of population is learning in these vocational schools so that foreign funding in this area could be maximized for its profit generation in the form of amplified textile education and positive results.
References
Asian Development Bank. (2003). A new start for Afghanistan's education sector. Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/27935/new-start-education-sector-afg.pdf
Bittlingmayer, U.H., Grundmeier, A., Kobler, R., Sahrai, D. & Sahrai, F. (2019). Education and development in Afghanistan: Challenges and prospects. Transcript Verlag.
Faqiri, F.M., Shams, M.S. & Gul, S. (2019). Small and medium enterprises in the garment sector of Afghanistan: Challenges and prospects. Kardan Journal of Economics, 2(4), 70-82. https://kardan.edu.af/Research/ CurrentIssue.aspx?j=KJEMS
International Trade Centre. (2020, February 25). Fashion and sewing professionals in Tajikistan learn the latest techniques. Retrieved from https://www.intracen.org/news/Fashion-and-sewing-professionals-in-Tajikistan-learn-the-latest-techniques/
Sherzad, A.R. (2017). Education in Afghanistan: Challenges and suggestions for improvement (Report no.  45, ISSN 1619-3660). Herat University. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315810717_Education_in_Afghanistan_Challenges_and_Suggestions_for_Improvement
Yeniseyev, M. (2019, April 11). Uzbekistan offers to help develop Afghanistan textile industry. Caravanserai. Retrieved from https://central.asia-news.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_ca/features/2019/04/11/feature-01