The men resumed classes on Monday at Afghan universities reopened after the long winter break, unlike the women who, to their dismay, are still not allowed to study by the Taliban regime.
The ban on access to university is one of countless restrictions on women’s rights adopted by the Taliban since they returned to power in August 2021. It has drawn a wave of condemnations around the world, including in countries Muslims.
“I am heartbroken to see the boys go to university while we stay at home,” Rahela, 22, from the central province of Ghor, told AFP.
“If Afghan girls and women are educated, they will never accept a government that exploits Islam and the Koran. They will defend their rights… that’s what the government fears,” pointed out Waheeda Durrani, who had to stop studying journalism in Herat.
At the end of December 2022, the Minister of Higher Education announced that universities were now closed to women on the grounds that female students did not respect the obligation to veil their body and face entirely, and that they were not always accompanied as required by a “mahram”, a male companion of their family.
The universities had however already adopted new rules after the return to power of the Taliban, in particular intended to separate girls and boys during class hours.
Women were therefore only allowed to be given lessons by teachers of the same sex or by elderly men.
“It hurts to see that thousands of girls are deprived of education these days,” said Mohammad Haseeb Habibzadah, a computer science student in Herat.
Fundamental right
An engineering student at the prestigious Kabul University, Ejatullah Nejati believes that access to education is a fundamental right for women.
“Even if they attend classes on other days (than the boys), it’s not a problem. They have the right to be educated and this right should be given to them,” he said as he returned to his campus.
At the private Rana University in the capital, posters explaining how women should dress were still hung in the corridors, while a few male students had taken their places in half-empty rooms, journalists from the university said. AFP.
“My sister, unfortunately, cannot come to university. She tries to study at home,” lamented one of them, Ibratullah Rahimi.
Several Taliban officials say the ban on women studying is only temporary, but they have not given a timetable for when it will be lifted. Secondary schools have also been closed to girls for a year and a half.
The authorities offered many excuses for the closure, arguing that there were not enough teachers or money, or that schools would reopen once an Islamic curriculum was developed.
In fact, some Taliban officials acknowledge that the movement’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and the ultra-conservative clerics who advise him remain deeply skeptical of modern education.
The ban on studying came as a shock to Afghan women who, less than three months earlier, had taken university entrance exams.
Despite their promises to be more flexible, the Taliban have returned to the rigorous interpretation of Islam that marked their first passage to power (1996-2001) and have increased their repressive measures against women.
These have been excluded from many public jobs, or are paid a pittance to stay at home. They are not allowed to travel without being accompanied by a male relative and must cover themselves fully when leaving their homes.
In November, the Taliban also banned them from entering parks, gardens, sports halls and public baths.
The international community has linked the recognition of the Taliban regime and the humanitarian and financial aid, which Afghanistan absolutely needs, to the respect by the Taliban of human rights, in particular that of women to be educated and to work.