Now, private educational institutes in Afghanistan ban entry of girls

New Delhi: After public universities stopped the entry of women in their premises immediately after the government order was issued to suspend the higher studies of women, now private universities and institutions across Afghanistan have stopped their entries.

Owners of private educational institutions in Afghanistan said they received orders from the caretaker government that girls above 12 years of age are not allowed to attend classes.

"They told us that they have made the list of the institutions where students above 12 years of age were enrolled," said Hasibullah, a university lecturer.

Taliban bans women's education

The ruling Taliban government announced on Tuesday the closure of all public universities for women in Afghanistan, according to a letter by the higher education minister.

A letter issued by the education ministry said the decision was made in a cabinet meeting, and the order would go into effect immediately. "The orders begin immediately till further notice," said the official letter from the ministry of education.

Till Wednesday, Private institutions and Tutorial centres were open but since Thursday morning, no girl student has been allowed to enter these institutions.

Tutorial centres are popular with the students who used to go to update their education.

"They warned us and those from educational centres that we will be treated harshly if we repeat this. They said no female student has the right to continue her lessons either in a tutoring centre or at university," said Ibrahim Irshadi, a university lecturer to a local news agency.

Secondary schools for girls have been closed for the past 460 days, while universities and tutoring centres were closed for women this week.

In his tweet, a local journalist Ahmed Mukhtar @AhMukhtar said, "following suspensions of universities for women, today Taliban closed all private educational institutions for girls making all kinds of education for women above grade six illegal."

"Until yesterday, private educational centres and schools in some provinces were opened for girls," added Mukhtar.

Hundreds of young women were stopped by armed guards on Thursday from entering Afghan university campuses, a day after the nation's Taliban rulers banned them from higher education for women.

Students and their parents are concerned as their futures are at stake. Many families want to leave the country if the caretaker government does not reverse their orders soon.

One student who did not want to share her name said, "We want our tutoring centres to reopen. Our lives will be ruined. We have nothing else but only this opportunity to study in these centres.

"We should be provided with our rights. We came to our classes today, but they said the classes would be closed from Thursday," said a student from a tutoring centre in Kabul.

"What would our children do? What can they do in the future? What can they become?" asked Mohammad Arif, a Kabul resident.

Scattered women protests in the streets of Kabul and nearby towns

On Thursday, dozens of women in the capital Kabul staged a protest rally against the caretaker government's decision to suspend higher studies for women. Some of them were temporarily arrested but later released.

In a separate protest, female medical faculty students of the university in eastern Nangarhar province also protested against the orders of the Ministry of Higher Education to ban women's education.

Meanwhile, several voices, including religious scholars, have called on the Islamic Emirate to reopen schools and universities for women and girls. "From the perspective of Islam, men and women have the right to study, learn and educate. It means they have the right to study and educate," said Ahmad Rahman Alizada, a religious cleric.

"When a human lacks education, how would he know his God? This education takes a human out of foolishness and darkness and directs them to brightness," said Mohammad Yusuf, a Kabul resident.

The international community including the United Nations has collectively condemned the Taliban's decision to ban women from universities and girls from school. The condemnations continue to pour in appealing to the Afghan authorities to stop repression and abuses against women in Afghanistan.