Afghan female students walk near Kabul University in Kabul, Afghanistan. file. , Photo Credit: Reuters
According to a spokesman, on 28 January the Taliban doubled down on their ban on women’s education, sending a message to private universities that Afghan women were barred from taking university entrance exams.
The note comes despite weeks of condemnation and lobbying by the international community for a reversal on measures restricting women’s freedoms, including two back-to-back visits this month by several senior UN officials. It also bodes ill for expectations that the Taliban could move to reverse its orders any time soon.
The Taliban last month barred women from entering private and public universities. Nida Mohammad Nadeem, minister of higher education in the Taliban-run government, has said the ban is necessary to prevent gender mixing in universities – and because she believes some subjects being taught violate Islamic principles.
He said in a TV interview that work was underway to fix these issues and that universities would be reopened to women.
The Taliban made similar promises about access to middle school and high school for girls, saying classes for them would resume once “technical issues” around uniforms and transportation were resolved. But girls remain out of the classrooms after class VI.
Higher Education Ministry spokesman Ziaullah Hashmi said on Saturday that a letter has been sent to private universities reminding them not to allow women to take the entrance exam. He did not give further details.
A copy of the letter, shared with The Associated Presswarned that women could not take “entrance examinations for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels” and that if any university disobeyed the order, “legal action would be taken against the violator.”
The letter was signed by Mohammad Salim Afghan, the government official overseeing student affairs in private universities.
Entrance exams begin on Sunday in some provinces while elsewhere in Afghanistan, they begin on 27 February. Universities across Afghanistan follow different timetables due to seasonal differences.
Association of Private Universities spokesperson Mohammad Karim Nasari said the institutions are concerned and saddened by the latest development.
“We had only one hope that some progress could be made. But unfortunately, after the letter, there is no sign of progress,” he pointed out. AP, “The whole area is suffering.”
He expressed apprehension that if education for girls is not resumed, no one will take the entrance exam as the number of students will be so less.
Furthermore, Nasari said private universities want the authorities to waive land tax for universities built on government property, and taxes on universities in general, as they are suffering huge financial losses.
Afghanistan has 140 private universities in 24 provinces, with approximately 200,000 students. Of these, about 60,000 to 70,000 are women. About 25,000 people are employed in universities.
Earlier this week, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and leaders of two major international aid organizations visited Afghanistan, last week a delegation led by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, the UN’s highest-ranking woman, visited. did. The visits had a common purpose – to try to reverse the Taliban’s crackdown on women and girls, including a ban on Afghan women working for national and global humanitarian organizations.