KABUL: Afghanistan’s public universities, closed since the Taliban seized power in August, will reopen in February, the Taliban acting higher education minister said on Sunday, without specifying whether female students would be able to return.
Universities in warmer provinces will reopen from February 2, while those in colder areas would reopen on February 26, the minister, Shaikh Abdul Baqi Haqqani, told a news conference in Kabul. He did not say what arrangements if any would be made for female students. In the past, Taliban officials have suggested that women could be taught in separate classes.
Haqqani did not elaborate, but in his earlier statements, the minister had announced that gender segregation would be enforced in public universities before reopening them. He also said at the time that hijabs would be mandatory for female students.
So far, the Taliban government has reopened high schools for boys only in most parts of the country. Some private universities have reopened, but in many cases female students have not been able to return to class.
Western governments have made education for female students a part of their demands as the Taliban seek more foreign aid and the unfreezing of overseas assets. The hardline group took over the country on August 15 as foreign forces withdrew.
The announcement comes as the Taliban face pressure from the international community to respect the human rights of all Afghans, especially those of women, and allow all girls to receive an education.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his call for the Taliban earlier on Sunday to uphold pledges to respect human rights. “In Afghanistan, women & girls are once again being denied their rights to education, employment & equal justice,” Guterres tweeted on Sunday. “To demonstrate a real commitment to be a part of the global community, the Taliban must recognize & uphold the basic human rights that belong to every girl & woman.”
In mid-September, the Taliban allowed female students to resume classes in some 150 private universities under a strictly gender-segregated classroom system.
Afghan public and private universities were co-educational before the Taliban takeover, with males and females studying side by side, and women didn’t have to abide by a dress code. In elementary and high schools, however, girls and boys were taught separately until the Islamist group regained power last August.
“Co-education is in conflict with the principles of Islam and with national values and it is against the traditions of Afghans as well,” Haqqani said in a September news conference in Kabul.
While the Taliban’s male-only caretaker government opened secondary schools for boys in early September, most girls across Afghanistan are still waiting for official permission to continue their education. The Taliban have pledged that all girls will be allowed to go back to the classroom in March when the new school year begins in the country.
