Taliban introduce new restrictions for female students: What you need to know

Picture Courtesy: France24

A day after raising their flag over the presidential palace, the Taliban on Sunday announced new rules and restrictions for female students in Afghanistan. It's been a month since the Taliban gained control of the government and the new rules are now rolling out.

Higher Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani said that women will be allowed to study, but not alongside men. He also said that there will be a review of the subjects being taught in the schools and Universities. Women will also need to follow an Islamic dress code in educational institutions.

Haqqani said, "We have no problems in ending the mixed-education system, The people are Muslims and they will accept it.” This is a significant change from the educational policy before the Taliban took over where universities were co-educational, with men and women studying side by side, and female students did not have to abide by a dress code.

However, this time Taliban had said that they will not prevent women from being educated or having jobs, unlike the Taliban rule between 1996 and 2001 when women and girls were banned from schools and universities.

There were some concerns about the new rule as some suggested that this will result in the exclusion of women from education because universities and schools in Afghanistan do not have enough resources to accommodate separate classes for men and women.

Mr. Haqqani dismissed these concerns and said, "It all depends on the university's capacity, we can also use male teachers to teach from behind a curtain, or use technology.”

This comes after a demonstration by women supportive of the Taliban's gender policies at Shaheed Rabbani Education University in Kabul yesterday.