Afghanistan: Taliban ban girls from university

Taliban authorities announced on Tuesday that Afghan universities are now off-limits to girls.

They have already been deprived of secondary education in Afghanistan since the accession to power of the Islamic fundamentalists, further restricting their freedoms, despite international condemnations.

"You are all informed of the entry into force of the mentioned order which suspends the education of women until further notice", said the Minister of Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, in a letter addressed to all government and private universities in the country.

Ministry spokesman Ziaullah Hashimi, who tweeted the letter, also confirmed the order to close colleges to girls for an indefinite period, with AFP.

No explanation has yet been provided to justify this decision.

Three months after university entrance exams

Universities are closed due to winter holidays and are expected to reopen in March.

“Not only me, but all my friends are speechless.

We have no words to express our feelings.

Everyone is thinking about the unknown future that awaits them,” reacted Madina, a student on condition of anonymity.

After the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021, universities were forced to implement new rules, including to separate girls and boys during class hours.

The fairer sex was allowed to receive lessons, but only if they were taught by women or elderly men.

The new ban comes less than three months after thousands of girls and women took university entrance exams across the country.

Many of them aspired to choose between careers in engineering or medicine, although deprived of access to secondary schools.

Ultra-rigorous interpretation of Islam

Upon their return to power after 20 years of war with the Americans and NATO forces, the Taliban had promised to be more flexible, but they have largely returned to the ultra-rigorous interpretation of Islam that had marked their first spell in power (1996-2001).

Between the two Taliban reigns, girls were allowed to go to school and women were able to seek employment in all sectors, even though the country remained socially conservative.

Read alsoAfghan teenage girls sentenced to clandestine school: “The Taliban want to kill our dreams”

But for sixteen months, the draconian measures have multiplied in particular against women who have been gradually excluded from public life and excluded from colleges and high schools.

“We are doomed, every day”

“We are doomed, every day.

While we hoped to progress, we are ostracized from society,” said Reha, another student, on Tuesday.

In an unexpected about-face, on March 23, the Taliban had closed secondary schools just hours after their long-announced reopening.

Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada himself intervened in the decision, according to a senior Taliban official.

Various members of power had said that there were not enough teachers or money but also that schools would reopen once an Islamic curriculum was developed.

Banned from public jobs, parks, gardens...

Despite their exclusion from colleges and high schools, in Kabul, many young women had traveled in early December to take their final secondary school exam, necessary to qualify to enter university, noted journalists from the AFP.

As well as being deprived of education, women are also banned from most government jobs or paid a pittance to stay at home.

They are also prohibited from traveling without being accompanied by a male relative and must wear a burqa or hijab when leaving their homes.

In November, the Taliban also banned them from entering parks, gardens, sports halls and public baths.

Risky demonstrations

Demonstrations by women against these measures, which rarely gather more than forty people, have become risky.

Many protesters have been arrested and journalists are increasingly prevented from covering these rallies.

“The new restrictions extended to women's education in Afghanistan are tragic,” denounced the former Minister of Finance under the former government, Omar Zakhilwal.

The new extended restrictions to female education in Afghanistan is tragic.

The ban has no religious, cultural or logistical grounds.

It is not only a serious violation of women's rights to education but also makes our country look further deeply anomalous!

#LetAfghanGirlsLearn pic.twitter.com/ux1hg0Qhru

— Dr. Omar Zakhilwal (@DrOmarZakhilwal) December 20, 2022

“This ban has no religious, cultural or logistical basis.

This is not only a serious violation of women's rights to education, but also a profound anomaly for our country!

“, he added in his tweet.

The international community has linked recognition of the Taliban regime and much-needed humanitarian and financial assistance to Afghanistan with the Taliban's respect for human rights, especially women's rights to education and work.

Unanimous international condemnations

The United States on Tuesday condemned in the "strongest terms" a "barbaric" decision which will have "significant consequences for the Taliban and further alienate them from the international community and the legitimacy they desire", warned US State Department spokesman Ned Price.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply alarmed" by the decision and urged the Taliban to "ensure equal access to education at all levels".

"The denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls, but will have a devastating impact on the future of the country," said spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric in a statement.

For its part, Pakistan said it was "disappointed" by its neighbor's decision.

Its foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, however, felt that the best approach "despite many setbacks in women's education and other things, is through Kabul and through the caretaker government".