The letter comes despite weeks of condemnation and pressure from the international community to reverse measures restricting women’s freedoms in Afghanistan, including two consecutive visits this month by several senior UN officials.
Observers said the message does not bode well, and bets low that the Taliban will take steps to revoke its relevant decrees anytime soon.
Last month, the Taliban banned women from entering private and public universities.
The Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education, Nida Muhammad Nadeem, emphasized that the ban was necessary to prevent mixing of the sexes in universities, and because he believed that some of the subjects being taught violated the principles of Sharia.
pretexts for prohibition
The minister said in a television interview that work is underway to fix these problems, and that universities will open their doors to women as soon as they are resolved.
The Taliban made similar promises about the girls’ entry into middle and secondary schools, saying classes would resume for them once “technical issues” with uniforms and transportation were resolved.
But girls are still excluded from classes beyond the sixth grade.
On Saturday, Ministry of Higher Education spokesman Ziaullah Hashmi said a reminder has been sent to private universities not to allow women to take entrance exams. But he did not elaborate.
A copy of the letter, seen by The Associated Press, warns that women cannot take the “entrance test for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels” and that if a university disobeys the decision, “legal action will be taken against the violator.”
The letter bears the signature of Muhammad Salem Afghan, a government official overseeing student affairs in private universities.
University entrance exams start on Sunday in some states, while they start on February 27 in other places in Afghanistan.
Universities across Afghanistan follow a different schedule, due to seasonal differences.
Mohamed Karim Nasari, a spokesman for the Association of Private Universities, said last month that dozens of private universities are at risk of closing due to the ban.
In Afghanistan, there are 140 private universities in 24 provinces, with about 200,000 students. Of these, approximately 60,000 to 70,000 are female students. These universities also employ about 25 thousand people.
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