 "A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 23, 2023. Image used for representational purpose/AP")
In a further clampdown on women’s rights, the Taliban administration in Afghanistan on Tuesday banned women from pursuing nursing and midwifery courses.
Officials from the health department met directors of educational institutes in Kabul to appraise them on the recent decree, a source from the ministry told AFP.
He said that although an official letter has not been published yet, the managements of various health institutes were ordered not to admit women and girls in their facilities anymore.
“They were not provided with any details and justification and were just told of the order of the supreme leader and were asked to implement it,” the source added.
A senior employee of one such centre said that institutes had been given 10 days to hold final exams.
Taliban has been repressing women’s rights in Afghanistan ever since they returned to power in 2021.
After they were barred from education beyond secondary school as part of restrictions labelled “gender apartheid” by the United Nations, women flocked to these health institutions, one of the only avenues left open for them.
Afghanistan has around 10 public and more than 150 private health institutes offering two-year diplomas in 18 subjects, ranging from midwifery to anaesthesia, pharmacy and dentistry, with a total of 35,000 women students, health ministry sources said.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“What are we supposed to do with just 10 per cent of our students?” one manager said.
‘Big shock for us’
Meanwhile, female students and faculty pursuing courses at health institutes have already received messages telling them not to come to work until further notice.
A midwifery teacher at a private institute in Kabul said, “This is a big shock for us. Psychologically, we are shaken.”
“This was the only source of hope for the girls and women who were banned from universities.”
A health ministry official said the ban on women pursuing health courses would strain an already suffering health sector in Afghanistan.
“We are already short of professional medical and para-medical staff and this would result in further shortages.”
With inputs from AFP