Taliban: Women can study in gender-segregated universities
KABUL, Afghanistan — Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in universities, including at postgraduate levels, but classrooms will be gender-segregated, and Islamic dress is compulsory, the Taliban government’s new higher education minister said Sunday.
The announcement came as a Taliban official said Qatar’s foreign minister arrived in the Afghan capital, Kabul — the highest-level visitor since the Taliban announced their interim Cabinet. There was no immediate confirmation of the visit by Qatari officials.
Earlier Sunday, the higher education minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, laid out the new policies at a news conference, several days after Afghanistan’s new rulers formed an all-male government. On Saturday, the Taliban raised their flag over the presidential palace, signaling the start of the work of the new government.
The world has been watching closely to see to what extent the Taliban might act differently from their first time in power, in the late 1990s. During that era, girls and women were denied education and were excluded from public life.
The Taliban have suggested they have changed, including in their attitudes toward women. However, women have been banned from sports, and the Taliban have used violence in recent days against female protesters demanding equal rights.
Haqqani said the Taliban do 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.
Gender segregation will also be enforced, he said. “We will not allow boys and girls to study together,” he said. “We will not allow coeducation.”
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.
The Taliban, who subscribe to a strict interpretation of Islam, banned music and art during their previous time in power. This time around, television has remained and news channels still show female presenters, but the Taliban messaging has been erratic.
In an interview on Afghanistan’s popular TOLO News, Taliban spokesman Syed Zekrullah Hashmi said last week that women should give birth and raise children. While the Taliban have not ruled out the eventual participation of women in government, the spokesman said, “It’s not necessary that women be in the Cabinet.”