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There are lectures again at some universities in Afghanistan. It is still unclear which of these women are allowed to visit.
Public universities in Afghanistan have been closed since the Taliban took power in August 2021. Classes started again this week. How the Ministry of Education wants to organize the lectures for men and women under the new regime was unclear for a long time. Now the classes must be separated by gender. It was different before the fall of the government.
“The Taliban did not specifically mention in their announcement that women can go back to university,” explains Thomas Gutersohn, Radio SRF’s South Asia correspondent. “But the fact that, for example, in Jalalabad, in the southeast of the country, women were not prevented from attending classes is certainly a step in the right direction, albeit a very tentative one.”
Season matters
According to Gutersohn, the winter plays a role in the decision to open the universities right now. “The universities were always closed during the winter months, even during previous governments, because it’s simply too cold.”
In the warmer south of the country, in Kandahar or Jalalabad, the universities have now been opened. “In the colder regions like Kabul, for example, you have to wait until March.” Perhaps the talks with Western diplomats, such as those recently held in Oslo, also had an impact.
Depending on goodwill
«The West sees education for women as a prerequisite for further aid. On the one hand, that could be a reason why the Taliban are now opening up a little more than you might have expected at the beginning.” After all, it is also about a lot of money for bitterly poor Afghanistan.
The Taliban have never ruled out teaching per se.
“On the other hand, the Taliban have always said that they want to allow women back to universities – just on their terms,” the SRF South Asia correspondent continues. “They never ruled out teaching women per se.”
Big question of funding
The fact that the universities are reopening just under half a year after the fall of the government comes surprisingly quickly for Gutersohn, given the chaos in which the country was and still is. The question is how the courses would be financed. «Are there enough teachers? Do you get a salary? And will other universities open?»
Legend:
It was also the case during the first Taliban rule that women were primarily allowed to study health and care professions because the moral rights of the Taliban allowed women to do this work. “If women are now allowed to study other subjects, such as law or economics, then that would actually be a big step for the country.”
key stone
Once this has been clarified, it will certainly be an investment in the long-term future of the country, says Gutersohn. But there are other immediate problems. “It’s still about getting banking going again so people can withdraw money to do their shopping, to also get the current hunger crisis under control.”
For many of these people it is now important to be able to feed their daughters before they send them to university.
Poverty greater than before the Taliban
Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost under the Taliban. “Afghan women suffer particularly under this regime. They are still largely barred from jobs in the public sector,” the correspondent says. The opening of the universities gives a little reason for hope.
Legend:
Where the universities are open again, such as in Kandahar (pictured), positive feedback can be heard from male and female students. It is a day of joy, a student told the Arabic-language TV station al-Jazeera.
key stone
But it depends on what happens next, whether the Taliban, for example, also officially say that women are allowed to study again. “That would certainly create some trust.”
It is important to see whether the courses that women are allowed to take are limited or whether they really have a free choice.