Taliban announces new bases for female students in Afghanistan

Separated by gender and new Islamic clothing.

This is how universities will be in Afghanistan from now on, the Taliban announced on Sunday.

The Minister of Higher Education, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, indicated in a press conference that Women will be allowed to study but not with men.

He also announced that a review of the subjects to be taught would be conducted.

Under the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, women and girls were banned from studying in schools and universities.

The Taliban said in this new government that it would not prevent women from receiving an education or getting a job.

But since taking control of the country on August 15, they have called on all women except those working in the public health sector to stay away from work until the security situation improves.

The announcement of the higher education policy comes a day after the Taliban raised their flag over the presidential palaceWhich marks the beginning of his administration.

His policy is a major change from the accepted practice even a few weeks ago, before the Taliban took power. The universities were co-ed, with men and women studying side by side, and female students did not have to adhere to a dress code.

‘People will accept it’

Haqqani did not apologize for ending the mixed study.

“We have no problem ending the co-educational system,” he said. “People are Muslims and they will accept that,” he said.

Some have suggested that the new rules will exclude women from education because universities do not have the resources to provide separate classes.

However, the minister insisted that there were a sufficient number of female teachers and that if they were not available, alternatives would be found.

“It all depends on the capacity of the university,” he said. “We can also have male teachers teach behind a screen or use technology.”

Girls and boys will also be segregated in primary and secondary schools, which is already common across Afghanistan.

Women will be required to wear a headscarfHowever, Haqqani did not specify whether additional face coverings would be mandatory.

The new minister also said that they would review the subjects taught in universities, without giving further details, but he hoped that the graduates would be at the level they are doing in the region and in the rest of the world, according to the Associated Press.

He told reporters that the Taliban wanted “to establish a reasonable Islamic curriculum in line with our Islamic, national and historical values, and on the other hand, be able to compete with other countries.”

Women’s protests in favor of the Taliban

The announcement comes a day after a demonstration organized by women in support of Taliban gender policies at the Shahid Rabbani University of Education in Kabul.

Hundreds of women, wearing black veils and carrying small Taliban flags, heard speeches praising the new government and criticizing those who took part in large demonstrations across the country to demand protection of women’s rights.

The new government also replaced the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

This entity was responsible, during the previous Taliban mandate in Afghanistan, for deploying religious police in the streets to enforce Islamic law.

These officers were responsible for punishing women for behaviors they considered infractions, such as wearing “indecent” clothing and walking in the street without a guardian.

Many prominent professional women fled Afghanistan in anticipation of the rules they thought the new Taliban government would implement.. The country’s most famous pop singer, Ariana Said, has left the country on an American cargo plane and the famous film director, Sahara Krim, has been evacuated to Ukraine.