The newly-appointed Taliban have issued new instructions to the authorities of public and private universities in Afghanistan’s Herat province that boys and girls students will not be able to sit in the same classroom. The Afghan news agency Khama News quoted international media as saying on Saturday.
The decision came after a three-hour meeting with university teachers and private university owners.In a letter to university authorities, the Taliban said there was no rationale for continuing co-education and no alternative to stopping co-education. So co-education must stop.
The Taliban government was represented at the meeting by Mullah Farid, head of the Higher Education Board of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. At the end of the meeting, he said, co-education must be stopped. Because this education system is at the root of all the bad things in the society.
In addition to co-education, public and private institutions in Afghanistan have separate education systems for boys and girls.
Teachers in Herat province say government universities and institutes will be able to provide separate classrooms for girls. But the issue will become difficult for them as the number of female students in private educational institutions is low.
Earlier, during the 1996-2001 regime, the Taliban banned women from going to school and work. Women were forbidden to go outside without male relatives. Even when going out, women were strictly forbidden to show their faces. But this time, the Taliban claimed that they have moved away from their conservative attitude.
