• Prohibition on women attending universities has sparked international outrage.
• “No nation can prosper if half of its people are held back.” – Antony Blinken.
• Women were denied access to parks, gyms, and swimming pools last month.

Afghanistan’s Taliban-imposed prohibition on women attending universities has sparked international outrage and left many Afghans feeling hopeless.

The statement was made on Tuesday by the minister of higher education, who stated that it will go into effect right away.

Since girls have already been kept out of secondary schools since the Taliban returned last year, the prohibition significantly restricts women’s access to education.

One student at Kabul University remarked, “They demolished the one bridge that could have connected me with my future.”

“How do I respond? They killed my hope that I could learn and alter the course of my life or bring light to it.”

The US expressed its “strongest condemnation” of the Taliban’s activities on Tuesday, warning that they would have “consequences for the Taliban.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the Taliban “cannot expect to be a genuine member of the international community unless they respect the rights of everybody in Afghanistan.”

“No nation can prosper if half of its people are held back.”

The Taliban have been under pressure from Western nations to boost female education all year if they want to be legitimately recognised as the government of Afghanistan.

Additionally, the UN expressed its “grave concern.”

“The right to an education is a fundamental one. If the door to women’s education is closed, Afghanistan’s future is also closed “Ramiz Alakbarov, the deputy special representative for Afghanistan for the UN head, remarked.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, and his inner circle have been opposed to modern education, especially for girls and women.

After taking over last year in the wake of the US pulling out of the nation, the Taliban had pledged a softer administration. However, the nation’s women’s rights and liberties have continued to be reduced by radical Islamists.

The prohibition on higher education follows regulations put in place last month that forbade women from using public pools, gyms, or parks in the city.

Stricter regulations

In the majority of the country’s provinces, the Taliban had just three months prior permitted thousands of girls and women to take university entrance examinations.

However, there were strong limitations on the disciplines they may apply for, with journalism being severely restricted and fields like engineering, economics, veterinary science, and agriculture being completely barred.

Universities were already operating under discriminatory norms for women under Taliban administration, including gender-specific campus gates and separate classrooms.

Only female professors or elderly males were permitted to instruct female students.

After the Taliban took power, one woman told that it was “extremely tough” to even complete her studies.

She uttered: “We engaged in conflict with our fathers, society, our brothers, and even the government.

“Just to be able to continue our study, we had to endure a difficult condition.

“I was at least relieved at the moment that I could finish university and fulfil my aspirations. But how can I persuade myself now?”

Since the Taliban forbade girls from attending secondary schools, foreign assistance organisations have partially, and in some cases entirely, withdrew their funding for Afghanistan’s education sector. This has had a significant impact on the country’s economy.

After the US-led forces withdrew, there was a mass flight of trained academics, and this year many teaching staff members have been working without pay for months.

The Taliban had pledged to reopen several high schools for girls in March, but on the day they were scheduled to return, they cancelled the plan, citing funding and curriculum concerns that rights organisations claimed were justifications.

Trouble among the Taliban

For more than a month, rumours have circulated that the Taliban administration will forbid women from attending universities.

A few weeks earlier, a female student made the prediction. She had predicted that when we woke up one day, girls would no longer be permitted at universities.

Thus, even if many Afghans may have assumed that this choice will be made eventually, it nevertheless comes as a surprise.

Women were denied access to parks, gyms, and swimming pools last month. The Taliban administration failed to fulfil its promise to start secondary schools for girls in March of this year.

It has been clear from interactions with Taliban commanders over the past year that there is division among the Taliban on the subject of girls’ education.

Several Taliban members have stated repeatedly that they are hopeful and trying to try and ensure that girls receive an education off-the-record.

In 31 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, girls are now permitted to take secondary school graduation examinations, despite the fact that they have been prohibited from attending school for more than a year.

That offered a spark of optimism, which has now been put out.

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