Kabul: Monday, following the reopening of universities in Afghanistan following the winter break, a small number of male students returned to class in Kabul, but women are still barred by Taliban authorities.
The university ban is one of several restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, and it has sparked outrage across the globe, including among Muslims.
Rahela, a 22-year-old woman from the central province of Ghor, remarked, “It’s heartbreaking to see boys attending university while we must remain at home.”
“This is discrimination against women due to the fact that Islam permits us to pursue higher education. Nobody should impede our education.”
The Taliban government imposed the ban after accusing female students of disregarding a strict dress code and a requirement to be accompanied to campus by a male relative.
The majority of universities had already implemented gender-segregated entrances and classrooms, allowing women to be instructed only by female professors or elderly men.
Mohammad Haseeb Habibzadah, a computer science student at the University of Herat, stated, “It’s painful to see that thousands of girls are deprived of education today.”
“We are attempting to address this issue by speaking with professors and other students so that boys and girls can study and advance together.”
Ejatullah Nejati, an engineering student at the largest university in Afghanistan, Kabul University, stated that women have a fundamental right to education.
“Even if they attend classes on different days, there is no issue. They have a right to education, and they should be granted that right “As he entered the university campus, Nejati remarked.
Several Taliban officials have stated that the ban on women’s education is temporary, but they have failed to reopen secondary schools for girls, which have been closed for more than a year.
They have provided a litany of justifications for the closure, ranging from a lack of funds to the time required to redesign the curriculum along Islamic lines.
According to certain Taliban officials, the ultraconservative clerics advising Afghanistan’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzad are extremely sceptical of modern education for women.
Since regaining power, Taliban authorities have effectively eliminated women from public life.
Many government positions have been eliminated for women, or they are paid a fraction of their former salary to stay at home.
They are prohibited from parks, fairs, gyms, and public baths and are required to cover up in public.
The United Nations referred to the restrictions as “gender-based apartheid,” which was criticised by rights groups.
The international community has made the right of women to education a sticking point in aid and recognition negotiations with the Taliban government.
No country has recognised the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
