In a letter sent to all government and private universities, the ministry of higher education stated that the Afghan Taliban authorities on Tuesday mandated an indefinite ban on girls attending universities.
The letter, which was signed by Minister for Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadeem, stated, “You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending the education of females until further notice.”
In a text message to AFP, the ministry’s spokesman, Ziaullah Hashimi, who tweeted the letter, confirmed the order.
The international community, which has not officially recognized the de facto administration, is likely to be concerned about the restriction on female education.
Before it can consider formally recognising the Taliban-run administration, which is also subject to severe sanctions, foreign governments, including the United States, have stated that a change in policies regarding women’s education is required.
The ban on higher education comes less than three months after thousands of girls and women across the country took university entrance exams, many of whom hoped to pursue careers in engineering or medicine.
Universities were compelled to implement new regulations following the hardliners’ takeover in August of last year. These regulations included gender-segregated classrooms and entrances, and women were only permitted to be taught by women professors or old men.
The majority of adolescent girls in the country have already been barred from attending secondary school, severely restricting their enrollment in universities.
Source: AFP
