Desk Report
Publish: 12 Sep 2021, 07:09 pm
Taliban Say Will Allow Women at Universities, But Mixed Classes Banned
Afghan women will be allowed to attend university as long as
they study separately from men, the Taliban's new higher education minister
said Sunday.
Women's rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under
the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule, though since returning to power last month the
hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule.
But speaking to reporters about the new regime's plans for
the country's education, Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani was unapologetic about
bringing an end to mixed sex classes.
"We have no problems in ending the mixed-education
system," he said. "The people are Muslims and they will accept
it."
The Taliban announced earlier this month that women could
still study at university if they wore an abaya robe and niqab covering most of
the face, with classes segregated by sex -- or at least divided by a curtain.
Haqqani said that Afghanistan's education system had changed
greatly since the Taliban's last time in
power, when women were effectively barred from schools and universities.
"Compared to the past the number of educational
institutions have increased dramatically," he said.
"This gives us hope for a future, prosperous and
self-sufficient Afghanistan... we will continue from where they were
left."
Some fear the new rules will exclude women because the
universities do not have the resources to provide separate classes.
But Haqqani insisted there were enough female teachers and,
where they were not available, alternatives could be found without breaching
rules.
"It all depends on the university's capacity," he
said. "We can also use male teachers to teach from behind a curtain, or
use technology."
The Taliban say they want to distance themselves from the
harsher policies of old, when half the population was excluded from work and
education.
Under new rules, women may work "in accordance with the
principles of Islam", the Taliban have decreed, but few details have yet
been given as to what that exactly might mean. (AFP)
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