Afghanistan’s public universities opened on Wednesday for the first time since the Taliban took over the country last year, with female students joining male colleagues as they return to campus.
The Taliban government has not officially announced its plan for female university students, but education officials told Reuters that women can attend classes as long as they are physically separated from male students.
A Reuters witness in the eastern city of Jalalabad saw female students entering through a separate door at Nangarhar University, one of the big government universities opening this week.
Under its previous rule from 1996 to 2001, the hardline Islamist group barred women and girls from education. The group says it has changed since regaining power on Aug. 15 with the withdrawal of foreign forces, but it has been vague in its plans, and school-age girls in many provinces are still not allowed to return to school.
Some private universities have reopened, but in many cases female students have not been able to return to classes.
The international community has made the education of girls and women a key part of its demands as the Taliban seeks more foreign aid and the thawing of assets abroad.
On Tuesday night, the United Nations (UN) praised the inclusion of female students in the country’s public universities, appearing to indicate an official confirmation.
An education official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media said universities were given different options for keeping female students isolated, including separate classes and staggered operating hours to divide genders.
Source: CNN Brasil
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