Taliban say they will let women study, but not with men

The Taliban will let women who wish to study at the university, but they will have to do it separately from the men, affirmed, Sunday (September 12th), the minister of higher education of the new Afghan regime.

“Our fighters have assumed their responsibilitiesAbdul Baqi Haqqani said at a press conference in Kabul, before stressing the importance of the university system. The responsibility for rebuilding the country now rests with the universities. And we have hope, because the number of universities has greatly increased [par rapport à l’époque du premier régime taliban (1996-2001)] “.

“This makes us optimistic for the future, to build a prosperous and self-sufficient Afghanistan. (…) We must make good use of these universities [et nous] pick up where they left off [par le gouvernement renversé à la mi-août] “, he added.

The minister also explained that the government was going to put an end to the mix of courses, allowed so far in universities.

“We have no problem with that. The people are Muslims, and they will accept it. We decided to separate [les hommes et les femmes], because co-education is contrary to the principles of Islam and to our traditions. “

According to him, co-education has been imposed by the pro-Western government for the past twenty years, while universities demanded separate education.

Concern of some universities

The new Taliban government announced last week that it would allow women to study at university, under strict conditions, including clothing (wearing the full veil) and separation of men and women (in separate classes or by a curtain in the courtyards where there are few women).

This announcement feeds the concern of some universities, which claim that they will not have the material and financial means to adapt to single-sex education, and that this could encourage students, accustomed to co-education, to leave the university. country to study elsewhere.

This decision is also of concern to Unesco, which estimated on Friday that the “Immense” progress made since 2001 in education in Afghanistan were ” danger “ with the Taliban, warning about the risks of a “Generational disaster” which could affect the development of the country “For years”.