The Impact of University Closures on Students' Motivation After the Fall of the Afghan Government by the Taliban

The post-2001 generation in Afghanistan experienced less violence and less trauma than generations during the civil war. Most of them, with the help of the international community, were provided the chance to go to school. For today's generation, access to higher education, the chance to study abroad, freedom of speech, freedom of work, and freedom of lifestyle have provided the ground for progress and development. The presence of the young post-2001 generation in various fields, from mass media to governmental entities, was a sign of progress and transformation from a conservative society to an educated and liberated society. With the sudden fall of the government, all the plans, activities, aspirations, and, most importantly, the educational opportunities of today's generation vanished. The closure of the gates of the universities not only cut off the opportunities for progress and development for the youth but also created trauma and anxiety for the youth. In this research, an attempt has been made to analyze and examine the reactions of university students to the changes and the new rules and regulations. A descriptive survey method has been used, and a total of 105 participants—49 boys and 56 girls from different departments of 5 universities have participated. Due to security conditions, purposive sampling has been used to select participants in this study. The findings showed that most of the students/participants are uncertain about the future, and they think about immigration and leaving the country. The result also showed that most female students are worried about strict rules and being excluded from work and social activities.