It has been revealed that university classes have been divided by gender in Afghanistan's universities, and images have been circulating online of a class dividing men and women by a curtain. These are the first classes to take place since the Taliban seized power following the withdrawal of US and NATO troops last week.
The Taliban previously ran an extreme conservative regime in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 before they were toppled by a US / NATO invasion. Under the regime, men and women were separated and women were denied access to education. They were also, in many cases, banned from leaving their home without a male chaperone or having any rights as autonomous individuals.
The new Taliban regime has vowed to foreigners that their new regime will be more liberal, but many fear that women will once again be segregated and held back in society. Some think that the segregation of university classes is just a starter for what is to come.
Anjila, a 21-year-old student at Kabul University speaking to Reuters news agency, said:
"Putting up curtains is not acceptable. I really felt terrible when I entered the class ... We are gradually going back to 20 years ago."
It is not yet clear if the curtains are official Taliban policy. However, a Taliban official told Reuters that the curtains were totally acceptable and that it was the best way to have one teacher teaching an entire class.
In another incident, a journalism professor at Herat University was told to split a one-hour class into two half-hours so that men and women could be taught separately.
He said:
"Students were very nervous today. I told them to just keep coming and keep studying and in the coming days the new government will set the rules."
While another lecturer added that the economic collapse that has occurred since the return of the Taliban could also hinder student's education, saying:
"I don't know how many students will return to school, because there are financial problems and some students are coming from families who have lost their jobs".
[h/t: Reuters]
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