The Taliban in Afghanistan ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women, reported AFP on Tuesday.
“You all are informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending the education of females until further notice,” a letter issued to all government and private universities signed by the Minister for Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadeem said.
After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August last year, the insurgent group had claimed that there would be no discrimination against women. However, the recent decision seems contrary to the group’s earlier claim.
The United Nations has described the move as a “broken promise”.
“We have seen since their [Taliban] takeover a lessening of space for women, not only in education, but access to public areas,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, reported Al Jazeera. “It’s another very troubling move and it’s difficult to imagine how a country can develop, can deal with all of the challenges that it has without the active participation of women and their education.”
The ban on higher education came nearly three months after several women and girls took university entrance exams across the country, with many aspiring to choose engineering and medicine as their career, reported The Guardian.
Earlier this year, the Taliban had shut down girls’ secondary schools in the country just hours after they were reopened for the first time since August 2021.
Meanwhile, the United States called the Taliban’s decision unacceptable and said that it will further alienate the group from the international community, reported The Guardian.’
The European Union condemned the move by the Taliban and said that gender persecution was a crime against humanity.
“The EU [European Union] condemns Taliban’s decision to suspend higher education for Afghani women,” the union’s Foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. “A unique move in the world that violates rights and aspirations of Afghans and deprives Afghanistan of women’s contributions to society.”
Besides education, the Taliban have restricted women from workplaces, reported AFP. Last month, the Taliban government also restricted women’s access to amusement parks in Kabul, reported Reuters.
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