By Oyintari Ben
According to a letter from the higher education minister, the Taliban have declared that universities for women in Afghanistan will be shutting down.
The change, according to the ministry, will last until further notice. It is expected to take effect immediately.
Given that women were already not allowed to attend high school, this severely restricts their access to formal education.
In Afghanistan, hundreds of women and girls took entrance exams for universities three months ago.
The areas women could study, however, were heavily restricted, with journalism being prohibited, along with veterinary science, engineering, economics, and agriculture.
After the Taliban took control of the institutions last year, there were gender-specific classrooms and entrances.
Only female professors or elderly males were permitted to instruct female students.
Asserting that Islamic law was not being upheld in Kabul’s parks in November, the authorities forbade women from entering them.
