Female students return to Afghan universities
Afghanistan's public universities opened yesterday for the first time since the Taliban took over the country last year, with female students joining their male counterparts heading back to campus.
The Taliban administration has not officially announced its plan for female university students, but education officials told Reuters women were permitted to attend classes on the condition that they were separated from male students.
A Reuters witness in the eastern city of Jalalabad saw female students entering via a separate door at Nangarhar University, one of the large government universities opening this week.
Under their previous rule from 1996 to 2001, the hardline Islamist Taliban barred women and girls from education. The group says it has changed since resuming power on Aug. 15 as foreign forces withdrew. But it has been vague on its plans and high school-aged girls in many provinces have still not been allowed to return to school.
Some private universities have reopened, but in many cases female students have not been able to return to class.
A female medical student at Nangarhar University who asked not be named for security reasons said that classes had already been separated by gender, but it was not clear if they were still able to be taught by male lecturers or interact outside the classroom with male students.
The international community has made education of girls and women a key part of its demands as the Taliban seek more foreign aid and the unfreezing of overseas assets.
The United Nations late on Tuesday praised the inclusion of female students at public universities, appearing to indicate official confirmation.
"Let's all support the return of Afghan young female and male students to the universities across Afghanistan," the UN's Secretary General's Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, added in a Tweet.
"Supporters can consider a range of scholarship programs and ongoing support to female and male professors," she said.
Only universities in warmer provinces opened yesterday. Tertiary institutions in colder areas, including Kabul, are due to resume on Feb. 26.
Meanwhile, two Afghan journalists detained by the Taliban earlier this week were released yesterday, the news editor of their media organisation said. On Monday Ariana TV reporters Waris Hasrat and Aslam Hijab were detained by the Taliban, according to the Afghan Media Association.
Comments