Afghanistan: Banned from studying, women banned from university

Kabul — Afghan university students were barred from entering colleges in the country on Wednesday after the Taliban-controlled government decided to ban women from higher education.

The decision was announced in a letter from the Ministry of Higher Education to universities on Tuesday and was condemned by foreign governments and the United Nations (UN).

“We went to college, the Taliban were at the door and they told us ‘you can’t enter the university until further notice’… they were all crying,” said Shaista, a business student at a private university in the US. Kabul.

Students and Reuters witnesses said the presence of security forces outside the universities was greater than usual, and the students were told to leave by the Taliban forces even though they would only be performing administrative duties.

The ban on students is likely to complicate the Taliban administration’s efforts to gain international recognition and lift sanctions that have severely hampered the Afghan economy.

The UN mission in Afghanistan urged the Taliban-led government to “immediately” reverse the decision.

It also urged authorities to reopen girls’ schools after the sixth grade and to “end all measures that prevent women and girls from fully participating in everyday public life”.

Hasti, a third-year Political Studies student, was preparing for the final exam scheduled for Wednesday when she heard the news and spent the night crying in front of her study materials.

“I tried my best to study, it is very difficult for me because right now I have to stop reading and my goals are unattainable… If the situation continues like this for women, it means that women and girls are buried. They are alive,” she said.

The decision was made by the Taliban administration office, according to the announcement on Tuesday.

Several Taliban officials, including the deputy foreign minister and administration spokesman, have spoken in favor of women’s education in recent months.

The Taliban’s top spiritual leader, based in the southern city of Kandahar, has the final say on important decisions.

Diplomatic sources and Taliban officials told Reuters the issue was being discussed by the leaders.

Taliban leaders say they want peaceful relations with the international community, but that foreigners should not interfere in the country’s internal affairs.