By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Afghan universities on Monday resumed academic activities following a winter break, but only men returned to class while the ban on women in higher education by Taliban authorities is still in force.
The university ban is one of several restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban came back to power in August 2021, a development that has attracted global condemnation, including across the Muslim world.
“It’s heartbreaking to see boys going to the university while we have to stay at home,” said Rahela, 22, from the central province of Ghor told AFP.
“This is gender discrimination against girls because Islam allows us to pursue higher education. Nobody should stop us from learning.”
The Taliban government imposed the ban after accusing women students of ignoring a strict dress code and a requirement to be accompanied by a male relative to and from campus.
Most universities had already introduced gender-segregated entrances and classrooms, as well as allowing women to be taught only by female professors or elderly men.
“It’s painful to see that thousands of girls are deprived of education today,” Mohammad Haseeb Habibzadah, a student of computer science at Herat university, told AFP.
“We are trying to address this issue by talking to lecturers and other students so that there can be a way where boys and girls could study and progress together.”
Ejatullah Nejati, an engineering student at Kabul University, Afghanistan’s largest, said it was a fundamental right of women to study.
“Even if they attend classes on separate days, it’s not a problem. They have a right to education and that right should be given to them,” he said as he entered the university campus.
Waheeda Durrani, a journalism student in Herat until she was barred from university last year, said the Taliban government wanted women to remain uneducated.
“If Afghan girls and women get educated, they will never accept a government that exploits Islam and the Koran,” she said.
“They will stand for their rights. That’s the fear the government has.”
