The ban has also been resisted by broad swaths of Afghan society, including clerics affiliated with the group who have publicly rebuked the Taliban over the decision respected elders high school teachers who run secret schools and the girls themselves. He believes that certain Taliban officials spread the rumor, hoping it would trigger international pressure that would "be enough reason for the leadership to reconsider such a ban."īaheer's comments point to the privately expressed dismay among many mid-level Taliban officials over the continuing ban on girls' education. ![]() About two months ago, he says that "a rumor originated from the Taliban themselves that an edict was going to come out banning women from going to universities." "This ban was in the pipeline," he tells NPR. It was a ruse, says Obaidullah Baheer, a Kabul-based lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan. It is not clear how many women were still attending university.Įarlier this month, Taliban authorities even allowed women to take university entrance exams for the next scholastic year. Taliban officials have since given an array of pretexts for the continued ban, from wanting to review the girls' curriculum to discussions over their uniforms.īut because of a quirk in the decision-making process, women were still allowed to attend university, albeit with strict conditions: They had to cover their hair and faces at all times, wear long, loose black robes and abide by strict gender segregation. The decision was made so suddenly that many female students had returned to class when their teachers were forced to kick them out. ![]() While they had repeatedly promised the international community that the ban was temporary, in March the group abruptly reneged on a promise to allow most girls back to school. After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, they banned most women and girls from attending high school. It's another move by the Taliban to halt the education for females. Goats and Soda Anne Frank's diary speaks to teen girls in a secret Kabul book club ![]() "But the Taliban closed the gates of university today." The female students had their last exam tomorrow," she said. She requested her family name not be used, fearing she'd be identified by Taliban officials. "What news could be worse than this?" said Zahra in a voice message to NPR, left in response to a question about how she felt. The Taliban government issued a statement suspending all women from attending university, the highest level of education most Afghan girls will be able to attain is grade 6 - the final year of primary school.Ī spokesman for the ministry of higher education, Ziaullah Hashmi confirmed the news to NPR and tweeted out the announcement himself with the words "important news." By evening, she was effectively expelled because of her gender, like every other female university student in Afghanistan. On Tuesday morning, a woman called Zahra was preparing to take final exams to complete her arts degree at a university in the Afghan capital, Kabul. ![]() This photo from 2013 shows a sophomore at Kardan University in Kabul. The ban came as students were taking final exams. On Tuesday, the Taliban banned women in Afghanistan from attending university.
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