KABUL —
Afghanistan’s main universities reopened Saturday
six months after the Taliban returned to power, but only a trickle of women
returned to now-segregated classes.
اضافة اعلان
Most secondary schools for girls and all public
universities were shuttered following the Taliban’s August 15 takeover,
sparking fears women would be barred from education -- as happened during the
first rule of the hardline Islamists, from 1996-2001.
The Taliban insist they will allow girls and women
to be educated this time around -- but only in segregated classes and according
to an Islamic curriculum.
Some public tertiary institutions in the south of
the country resumed last month, but on Saturday
Kabul University, the oldest
and biggest with a student body of around 25,000 last year, re-opened without
fanfare -- and few students in attendance.
Taliban guards refused journalists access to the
sprawling campus and chased away media teams lingering near the entrance.
AFP, however, spoke to some students away from the
gates, who expressed mixed feelings after their first day back.
“I am happy that the university resumed... we want
to continue our studies,” said an English major who asked to be identified only
as Basira.
But she said there were “some difficulties” --
including students being scolded by Taliban guards for bringing their mobile
phones to class. “They did not behave well with us... they were rude,” she
said. Another English student, Maryam, said only seven women attended her
class. “Before we were 56 students, boys and girls,” she said.
No students in Panjshir
There was also a shortage of
lecturers, she said, adding: “Maybe because some have left the country.”
A similar picture emerged from campuses across the
country, although no students returned to class at
Panjshir University, in the
heartland of a nascent resistance to the Taliban’s rule. “I do not know if they
will come tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, or not,” said Professor Noor-ur-Rehman
Afzali.
Panjshir was the last province to fall to the
Taliban last year, and Jaber Jibran, a faculty head, said several classrooms
destroyed in that fighting had still not been repaired.
The
Taliban have said previously that women students
must wear a black abaya over their bodies and hijab on their heads, but stopped
short of insisting on the all-covering burqa that was compulsory during their
previous rule.
Several students, however, appeared dressed no
differently Saturday than they would have before the Taliban takeover, with a
simple shawl covering their heads. “I have never worn any hijab before... it’s
new for me,” said Sohaila Rostami, a biology student in her last semester at
Bamiyam University. “I used to wear jeans and other normal clothes. It will be
difficult for me to observe hijab,” she told AFP.
In Herat, the
ancient Silk Road city near the
Iranian border and once one of the Islamic world’s most important intellectual
centers, students also complained about a lack of tutors. “Some of our
professors have also left the country, but we are happy that the university
gates are open,” said Parisa Narwan, studying arts.
Tens of thousands of Afghans fled the country as the
Taliban stormed back to power -- among them teachers and lecturers who had been
vociferously critical of the hardline Islamist group.
No country has yet recognized the new regime, which
has imposed several restrictions on women -- including banning them from many
government jobs.
In
Kabul, student Haseenat said campus life for women was
now very different to before. “We are told not to go out of our classes,” she
told AFP. “There is no cafeteria anymore... we are not allowed to go to the
university’s courtyard.”
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