Afghan-Turk schoolboy tops Afghan university entry test

KABUL, Afghanistan

A student from an Afghan-Turk school on Wednesday topped Afghanistan's national “Kankoor” university entrance test with a shining score.

According to Afghanistan’s Higher Education Ministry, Ahmad Rashid, son of Naseer Ahmad, from the western Herat province scored phenomenal 350 out of 360 points in the nationwide university entrance exam.

His success secured a place for Rashid in the Herat Medical University where the Afghan boy would study the government expense.

Last year, an Afghan girl, Tehmeena Painda, from the capital Kabul’s Afghan-Turk school topped the same test by leaving over 150,000 candidates behind to secure the top slot with 353 out of 360 points.

Earlier this month, Turkey took over five additional schools previously run by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in Afghanistan.

The Afghan-Turk schools -- four in the capital Kabul and one in the southern province of Kandahar -- were handed over to Turkey's Maarif Foundation, according to a statement by the office of Afghanistan’s Education Ministry.

With the move, all 13 FETO-run schools in the the war-torn country have been handed over to the Turkish education body.

The Maarif acquisition followed an agreement between Ankara and Kabul inked on February 26, 2018, which was also registered by the UN Secretariat.

Turkey established the Maarif Foundation in 2016 -- after a deadly coup attempt -- to take over the administration of overseas schools linked to FETO. The foundation also establishes schools and education centers abroad.