Male students returned to class Monday after Afghan universities reopened after the winter break but women remain banned by Taliban authorities.
The university’s ban is one of a number of restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban attacked again in August 2021 and sparked global outrage – including across the Muslim world.
“It’s sad to see boys going to university when we have to stay at home,” said Rahela, 22, from the central province of Ghor.
“This is gender discrimination against girls because Islam allows us to pursue higher education. No one should stop us from studying.”
The Taliban government imposed the ban after accusing female students of ignoring a strict dress code and requirement to be accompanied to and from campus by a man.
Most universities have introduced gender-segregated entrances and classrooms, as well as allowing women to be taught only by female professors or parents.
“It is very sad that thousands of girls are not getting an education today,” Mohammad Haseeb Habibzadah, a computer science student at Herat university, told AFP.
“We are trying to solve this problem by talking to other lecturers and students so that there is a way for boys and girls to learn and progress together.”
Ejatullah Nejati, an engineering student at Kabul University, the largest in Afghanistan, said it was a women’s basic right to study.
“Even if they go to class on separate days, it doesn’t matter. They have the right to education and that right should be given to them,” said Nejati when he entered the university campus.
Some Taliban officials say the ban on women’s education is only temporary but, despite promises, they have failed to open a secondary school for girls, which has been closed for more than a year.
They have come up with various reasons for the closure, from lack of funds to the time needed to revamp the syllabus along Islamic lines.
In fact, according to some Taliban officials, it is the ultra-conservative clerics who advise Afghanistan’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who are very skeptical about modern education for women.
Taliban authorities have effectively excluded women from public life since retaking power.
Women have been removed from many government jobs or paid a fraction of their previous salary to stay at home.
They are also prohibited from going to parks, fairs, gyms and public baths, and must cover up in public.
Rights groups condemned the ban, which the United Nations called “gender-based apartheid”.
The international community has made the right to education for women a sticking point in negotiations on aid and recognition of the Taliban government.
No country currently officially recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan.