Ghulam Farooq Wardak (born 1959) is a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, formerly serving as the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

. He was appointed to that position by Afghan President Hamid Karzai on October 11, 2008. On June 2022, Farooq Wardak was returned to Afghanistan after temporary self-exile following the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021.

Early life

Farooq Wardak was born in 1959, in the Saydabad Wardak District, in the

Wardak Province Wardak is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in Central Afghan highlands, central Afghanistan. Its capital is the closest provincial city to Kabul. Wardak Have 8 District. Wardak or Wardag (Dari/Pashto: ), is one of the 34 provinces o ...

. He is an ethnic Pashtun from the Wardak tribe, who is fluent in

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

, Persian, English and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

. His primary education was from a government elementary school in Wardak Province. He completed his high school in Kabul City. With the collapse of President Daud Khan's regime, Wardak joined the jihad against the

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, later known as the Republic of Afghanistan, was the Afghan state between History of Afghanistan (1978–1992), 1978 and 1992. It was bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, by Iran to the west, by the ...

with Hezb-e Islami of

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, and former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so called after Mohammad Yunus Khalis spl ...

. After the end of the first Taliban regime in late 2001, Farooq Wardak has continued to support Hezb-e Islami followers by appointing them to interesting administrative positions.

Higher education

After Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Wardak stopped his studies in the faculty of Pharmacy of Kabul University and took refuge in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

with the

Afghan refugees Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were forced to flee from their country as a result the continuous wars that the country has suffered since the Afghan-Soviet war, the Afghan civil war, the Afghanistan war (2001–2021) or either p ...

. In 1982, he was admitted to the Faculty of Pharmacy in

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...

, and graduated with a degree in 1986. While working with the United Nations from 1996 to 2001 in Pakistan, he received a master's degree in Administration from Preston University, in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, Pakistan. He received an honorary doctorate from KIIT University in 2012, other recipients at the ceremony were eminent economist, Baidyanath Misra, and Jigme Thinley, the then Prime Minister of Bhutan.

Work life

* 1986 - 1991: He worked with The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan as a health officer. * 1996 - 2001: United Nations Development program in Peshawar, Pakistan. * 2002 - 2004: worked as Director of the Constitutional Commission Secretariat and later the Secretariat of the Constitutional Loya Jirga, the grand Assembly that ratified the constitution. * 2004 - 2005: he was appointed as Director of the Joint Election Management Body’s Secretariat (a UN and Afghan Government body), organized the first voter registration process and first ever presidential election. * 2005: Was appointed as Cabinet Secretary and Director General of Office of Administrative Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. * 2006: Was appointed as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs. * 2008: Was appointed as the Minister of Education in Afghanistan.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardak, Ghulam Farooq Education ministers of Afghanistan Parliamentary affairs ministers of Afghanistan Living people Pashtun politicians 1959 births