Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the Taliban's acting minister of higher education, speaks from the podium at a consultative meeting about Taliban's general higher educational policies at a loya jirga (Kabul) on August 29, 2021 AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images
Taliban claim that women can go to universities under Taliban control, but they cannot take the same classes as men.
According to the Taliban's education minister, they want to develop a "reasonable and Islamic curriculum."
Although the ruling militant group claims it will protect women's rights in Afghanistan and has made statements about this, many people are skeptical due to its history of oppression of women.
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According to AFP, women in Afghanistan will be allowed into university "in safety" as long as they follow the Taliban's interpretations of Islamic law.
Haqqani said that mixed-gender classes would not be allowed. The comments were made Sunday at loya Jirga, a gathering of tribal leaders and faction leaders in Afghanistan.
According to AFP, he stated that "the...people of Afghanistan will continue their higher educational in the light Sharia law in security without being in a mix male and female environment."
He said that the Taliban were looking to create a reasonable, Islamic curriculum that was in line with Islamic, national, and historical values, and that can be competitive with other countries.
According to Human Rights Watch, most schools in Afghanistan were already gender-segregated prior to the Taliban's overthrow earlier this month. An estimated two-thirds (or more) of Afghanistan's girls do not attend school.
The Taliban, which ruled from 1996 to 2001 in Afghanistan, prohibited women and girls from school and work. According to the Taliban, it will continue to respect women's rights as per Islamic law. It also claims that it won't seek revenge on Afghans who have worked with its enemies.
Many are skeptical about the Taliban's abrupt shift in direction. Afghan women have shared numerous accounts of how the Taliban has failed to keep its promise that girls could continue school. One woman who spoke out for CNN said that Taliban members beat a driver of rickshaws to transport a female teacher on her own, without the help of a male chaperone.
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According to The Guardian, in some Taliban-controlled areas, girls and women have been prevented from leaving their homes or going to school.
Fearing that the Taliban would reintroduce oppressive regimes, thousands have fled Afghanistan. They have crowded Kabul's airport trying to squeeze into planes leaving the country.
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