35 Afghan varsities stare at imminent closure due to Taliban ban on higher studies for women

Kabul: With the Taliban imposing a ban on higher education for women in Afghanistan, nearly 35 of the country’s private universities are staring at imminent closure. In colleges and universities meant only for women, attendance has started dwindling and women students are keeping away fearing the wrath of the hardline Taliban regime. “The economic challenges of running the universities have surged widely and about 30 to 35 universities are facing major economic problems in running the institutions,” said Mohammad Karim Nasiri, media officer at the union of private universities, Tolo News quoted him as saying. Scanty media reports emerging out of Afghanistan on the issue also suggested that some private varsity owners have cautioned that many private educational institutions would shut down permanently, if female students were not allowed to go in for university education. Needless to say, the Taliban-led regime has ignored such appeals. Azizullah Amir, the founder of the Moraa Educational Centre for women said, “There is no man at this educational centre. If the implementation of this order continues, we will be obliged to shut the doors of this centre.” Dawat University’s deputy head Abdul Rahman Mansour has been quoted by the Afghan media as saying that although universities are closed for women now, he hopes this closure is only temporary. Soon, universities will be reopened for women students to continue with their higher education. Women aspirants, however, are less optimistic given the ruling Taliban’s earlier track record of suppressing the fundamental rights and liberties of women. The Taliban-appointed spokesperson for the Ministry of Higher Education, Ziaullah Hashimi, allegedly said efforts are underway to resolve the issues in the sector. “We are trying to ease our principles and provide services for the universities and solve the problems that cause obstacles for universities.”. Earlier in December, the Taliban’s acting Minister of Higher Education of Afghanistan Nida Mohammad Nadim said there is no opposition to barring women from university education in the country. The move comes at a time when the Taliban is attracting global criticism over the matter from countries around the world. To show solidarity with their female counterparts, several male students from private and public universities have gone on strike chanting slogans like “Education for all or none”. A lecturer from the Kabul Polytechnic University who is in Turkey for his Master’s degree, Ihsanullah Rahmani said, “I have offered my resignation to the Ministry of Higher Education as my protest and in support of our sisters. There are some other lecturers too, who are trying to complete their process of resignation from universities in Afghanistan.” Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.