Afghanistan’s Taliban government has banned female students from university education until further notice, according to Reuters.
The decision, which has drawn strong condemnation from the U.S, the UK and the United Nations (UN), comes after an announcement in August 2021 that women would still be allowed to attend university in Afghanistan, albeit in separate classes from men.
Immediate suspension
The university ban came two weeks after Afghan girls were allowed to take their high school graduation examinations.
It was announced after a government meeting in a letter sent to the Associated Press (AP) by the spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, Ziaullah Hashmi. The letter was signed by signed by the Minister for Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, according to The Guardian.
The letter reportedly told private and public universities that the ban was effective immediately, asking them to implement it as soon as possible and to inform the ministry once they have done so.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the move on Dec. 20 was “clearly another broken promise” from the Taliban government and another “very troubling move”, Reuters reported.
He added that it would be challenging for Afghanistan to develop without the education of women and their active participation in society.
Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN Secretary General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, has also expressed his deep concern about the university ban.
@unafghanistan is deeply concerned about the reported decision annouced today to suspend university education for women. Education is a fundemental human right. A door closed to womens education is a door closed to the future of #Afghanistan
— Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov (@RamizAlakbarov) December 20, 2022
Hopes and dreams crushed
When Taliban first took over the government, they pledged to respect women’s rights within the norms of Islam, though the public remained pessimistic of women’s rights under their rule, according to an earlier report by AP.
In the Taliban’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001, girls and women were not allowed to attend schools at all, the Financial Times reported.
Therefore, the reversal of Taliban’s initial pledge has sparked anger and devastation especially among women and activists.
A lecturer in Afghanistan told The Guardian that one of her students went through hardships to get into a prestigious university, only for “all her hopes and dreams” to be crushed.
She added that the image of Taliban may have changed, but said that “they are the same Taliban that denied me the education and are now killing the future of my students”.
Girls have already been barred from going to secondary schools in March 2022 when Taliban postponed the opening of schools just hours before they were due to reopen.
A female student told CNN that she and her classmates had been excited to return to school after “eight months of being deprived of education”, but were reportedly denied entry at their school gates.
Women’s rights threatened
According to The Guardian, the Taliban adheres to an austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, with the movement’s supreme leader and his inner circle being strongly against modern education, especially for girls and women.
However, it is reported that they share different opinions with many officials in Kabul, who had hoped girls would still be allowed to go to school after the takeover in 2021.
CNN highlighted that while the Taliban had made numerous promises to the international community on protection of the rights of women and girls, they have in fact been doing the opposite via their systematic suppression of their rights and freedoms.
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Top image via Getty/Nava Jamshidi
