Women will not be allowed to enrol in higher education programmes in Afghanistan, according to the Taliban-run higher education ministry’s announcement on Tuesday.
In accordance with a cabinet resolution, a letter certified by a representative of the higher education ministry ordered Afghan private and public colleges to immediately deny admission to female students.
The rest of the world, which has not yet recognised the de facto regime, will undoubtedly feel uneasy about the latest Taliban restriction on women’s access to school.
Before completely recognising the Taliban-run state, other countries, especially the United States, have highlighted that there must be improvements for women’s education in the nation.
The university restrictions were announced the same night as a UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan, during which Roza Otunbayeva, the representative of the UN secretary general for Afghanistan, claimed that the closure of schools had “undermined” the Taliban government’s relations with the outside world.
The UN, according to her, will be at conflict with the Taliban government as long as girls are prohibited from going to school and the de facto government continues to disregard other concerns raised by the international community.
Many university students were finishing up their final exams when the decision was made. Due to security reasons, one mother of a university student stated that her daughter called her in tears when she learned about the letter.
She worried that she wouldn’t be able to finish her medical education in Kabul. The mother admitted that many parents of college children are worried and anxious about this.
