Taliban allow women to study, ban coeducation

KABUL: Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in universities, including at post-graduate levels, but classrooms will be gender-segregated and Islamic dress is compulsory, the higher education minister in the new Taliban government said on Sunday.

The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, laid out the new policies at a news conference, several days ater Afghanistan’s new rulers formed an all-male government. On Saturday, the Taliban had raised their flag over the presidential palace, signalling the start of the work of the new government.

Haqqani said the Taliban did not want to turn the clock back 20 years.

“We will start building on what exists today,” he said.

However, female university students will face restrictions, including a compulsory dress code.

Haqqani said hijabs will be mandatory but did not specify if this meant compulsory headscarves or also compulsory face coverings. Gendersegregationwillalsobeenforced,hesaid. “We will not allow boys and girls to study together,” he said. “We will not allow co-education.” Haqqani said the subjects being taught would also be reviewed.

While he did not elaborate, he said he wanted graduates of Afghanistan’s universities to be competitive with university graduates in the region and the rest of the world.

In an interview on Afghanistan’s popular TOLO News, Taliban spokesman Syed Zekrullah Hashmi said women should give birth and raise children and while the Taliban have not ruled out eventual participation of women in government the spokesman said “it’s not necessary that women be in the cabinet.” The new higher education policy signals a change from the accepted practice before the Taliban takeover.

Universities were co-ed, with men and women studying side by side, and female students did not have to abide by a dress code. However, the vast majority of female university students opted to wear headscarves in line with traditions.

In elementary and high schools, boys and girls were taught separately, even before the Taliban came to power.

In high schools, girls had to wear tunics reaching to their knees and white headscarves, and jeans, makeup and jewellery were not permited.

Meanwhile, Afghan police at Kabul airport have returned to work manning checkpoints alongside Taliban security for the first time since the militants seized power, officers said on Sunday.

Two officers said they had returned to work on Saturday ater receiving calls from Taliban commanders.