Dec 20, 2022 | The Taliban has closed universities for female students, the Ministry of Higher Education said on Tuesday in Afghanistan. "You are all informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females under further notice," read a letter issued by the Ministry to all goverment and private universities. A spokesman for the Education Ministry also tweeted the letter, with the ban meaning that girls and women have been effectively locked out of classrooms after 6th grade. The ban on higher education comes less than three months after thousands of women took university entrance exams across the country, with many aspiring to become teachers or medical practitioners. Universities had remained open to women since the Taliban swept back into power in August 2021, so long as they attended classes separated from male students. The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan also reportedly specified subjects that women could choose to study at their universities.
