Banning the right to education for Afghan women and girls

Three months have passed since the university entrance exam was held in Afghanistan. While thousands of girls were hoping to continue their education and choose engineering and medicine fields as future jobs, the Taliban officially announced the ban on continuing education for women.

After the takeover of Afghanistan by radical Islamists in August last year, universities were forced to implement new rules, including gender segregation in classrooms and university entrances, and women were only allowed to attend the classrooms of female professors or older men.

In a letter published by the Ministry of Education, it is stated that this decision was taken at a meeting of the government board and this order will be implemented immediately.

The Taliban adhere to a strict version of Islam, with the movement's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and his inner circle of Afghan clerics opposed to modern education, especially for girls and women.

Reacting to this ban, the International Rescue Committee said: "Closing universities to women and girls is a terrible step backwards for Afghanistan." There are only two ways to solve this problem: "Women should be allowed to work and move freely, and girls should be allowed to go to school."

After seizing power in Afghanistan last year, the Taliban tried to project a more moderate image to gain international support.

But while it has made many promises to the international community to protect the rights of women and girls, the Taliban does the opposite and systematically suppresses their rights and freedoms.

Human Rights Watch criticized the ban on Tuesday, calling it a "shameful decision" that violates the right to education for women and girls in Afghanistan.

_{Source: Gaurdian, CNN, BBC}