Implementing outcome-based education and student-centered learning in Afghan public universities: the current practices and challenges

Outcome-based Education is currently of much potential in the global educational landscape. In recent years, implementing outcome-based education and student-centered learning have also been prioritized at the policy level of the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate the attitudes of Afghan lecturers towards the recent paradigm shift in the educational system of Afghanistan. The researcher employed a mixed-method approach to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The researcher used a questionnaire responded by 120 lecturers and interviewed 7 outcome-based education experts and Afghan lecturers. The quantitative findings reveal that teachers have positive attitudes towards outcome-based education, and they are ready and willing to implement the approach by mentioning some key challenges. However, the results also show that implementing this approach is currently at a low level of practice. The qualitative findings reveal that; content-based curriculum, policies of teaching, learning, and assessment, the lack of basic infrastructure and info-structure, lack of facilities, and teachers' workload are among the key challenges towards implementing this approach. The results will help the Ministry of Higher Education and Higher Education Development Program to develop applicable policies and to emphasize this recent paradigm shift in the future within addressing the key challenges to ensure the efficacy during implementation. It will also help lecturers to have an overall picture of outcome-based education and student-centered learning. Likewise, it will open a window for researchers to investigate this potential topic in more in-depth details in the higher education system of Afghanistan.