Afghan have students called on the government to reopen the doors of schools and universities for girls.
Afghan have students called on the government to reopen the doors of schools and universities for girls.
Afghanistan female students are seeking opportunities to study abroad after being barred from attending universities in the country.
The Taliban-run administration announced in December 2022 that female students would be suspended from returning to class until further notice.
While these students have tried applying for international scholarships for virtual and on-campus institutions, they said they are having difficulty traveling because the Islamic Emirate also declared that no female can travel without a male companion.
“There are some scholarships that the female students can apply for, but, unfortunately, the Islamic Emirate imposed restrictions on traveling without an accompanying male,” Azada Bakhshi, a student, told TOLO News in an interview.
“The doors of the university for girls have been closed. The girls have no choice but to find another country for a scholarship and go overseas to make their future,” added a girl named Sharifa.
According to women’s rights activists, the closure of universities harms the Afghan education sector.
Arizo Khurasani, one of the women’s rights activists, said the closure of universities to women is a big blow to Afghanistan’s education system. “We call on the Islamic Emirate to reopen the doors of schools and universities for girls.”
The solution is for the Islamic Emirate to review its policies and allow Afghan girls to study in their own country as pointed out by Khatira Hissar, also a women’s rights activist.
The National Association of Foreign Student Advisers condemned Afghanistan’s Taliban-run higher education ministry for banning women’s university access.
“Access to higher education is a fundamental right and an investment in peace and economic growth,” it said in a statement.
NAFSA had also urged Congress to expand dual intent to Afghan women seeking student visas and provide them with the opportunity to apply for legal permanent residency status.
“The Biden administration should also quickly announce and implement a program allowing U.S. colleges and universities to sponsor Afghan refugee students,” it said.
Since the Taliban took over the country in August 2021, universities have been forced to implement gender-segregated classrooms and entrances, and women are only allowed to be taught by professors of the same gender or elderly men, the Agence France Presse reported.
According to Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban government’s minister for higher education, women students had disobeyed Islamic instructions, such as what to wear or traveling with a male relative.
