Six months after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Kabul University reopened on Saturday with new restriction in place – gender segregation and compulsory Islamic dress.
Dozens of students, all wearing the hijab double up outside Kabul University, which is among the oldest and most revered institutions in Afghanistan of higher education. They were eager to resume the courses suddenly cut short in the alarm of the Taliban takeover in August. The Taliban stood guard at the three entrances to the campus.
More of students said they didn’t have know what to expect but were surprised to find they could resume regular courses and advancement in their chosen fields of study. The university largely follows the liberal arts of the United States model.
the music the department was the only discipline canceled for men and women, the returning students told The Associated Press (AP). The Taliban did not respond to requests from the PA for comment.
” There was no changes made to the program,” said Bahija Aman, 21, a third-year anthropology major. “The instructors are the same in my classes.”
“I’m glad they finally let go us go back to college,” she said. added.
Aman spent the last six month to home. His textbooks are neatly stacked on son bureauwhere she spent the most of son time up with his studies. As a top student, she was determined to keep son rank when universities reopen, she said.
She hopes to get son diploma and possibly earn a doctorate, all in Afghanistan.
Once attended by 22,000 students, the long-awaited opening was a quiet affair.
There was none public announcements Taliban government and media requests to enter the premises were refused. A declaration on that of the university official Facebook page this week announced that students would return to class on Saturday and that lessons would respect religious and cultural values.
Like most public universities, Kabul University had closed in the immediate aftermath of the takeover of the Taliban. the issue of whether women would be able to return without restrictions has been a key worry of the international community. Many feared that the Taliban would ban women, as happened during the previous groupest rule from 1996-2001.
The Taliban have said they do not oppose education for women but require classes to be separate and based on Islamic principles as they understand them. Some public universities reopened earlier this month in Province of Lagham, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Nimroz, Farah and Helmand.
Despite the lack of a formal ban, girls in seventh year and up were effectively prevented from going to school in more of the country since the Taliban takeover six months ago. The Taliban have said girls will be able to return to school by the end of March.
Access to education is a key demand of the international communityand the Taliban blamed the delays on lack of adequate spaceespecially in cities, to take school segregation into account
the new restrictions have been spelled out out by the instructors to the Saturday morning cohort of Students. They had to wear the Islamic head covering and could not bring smartphones into the university premises. Male students taking lessons in the afternoon.
But few seem to have changed. Kabul University posted a list of vacancies earlier this month on his Facebook page, including positions in the departments of art, public policyLiterature, media and communications, and policy science.
For Aman, restrictions are a small concession to be made. “I am loyal to the rule of law, I will follow this. But I hope there won’t be more changes.”
