KABUL— Afghan women will be allowed
to attend university as long as they study separately from men, the Taliban's
new higher education minister said Sunday.
اضافة اعلان
Women's rights in Afghanistan were
sharply curtailed under the
Taliban's 1996–2001 rule, though since returning to
power last month the hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less
extreme rule.
But speaking to reporters about
the new regime's plans for the country's education, Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani
was unapologetic about bringing an end to mixed sex classes.
"We have no problems in
ending the
mixed-education system," he said. "The people are Muslims
and they will accept it."
The Taliban announced earlier this
month that women could still study at university if they wore an abaya robe and
niqab covering most of the face, with classes segregated by sex — or at least
divided by a curtain.
Haqqani said that Afghanistan's
education system had changed greatly since the Taliban's last time in power,
when women were effectively barred from schools and universities.
"Compared to the past the
number of educational institutions have increased dramatically," he said.
"This gives us hope for a
future, prosperous and self-sufficient Afghanistan. ... We will continue from
where they were left."
Some fear the new rules will exclude
women because the universities do not have the resources to provide separate
classes.
But Haqqani insisted there were
enough female teachers and, where they were not available, alternatives could
be found without breaching rules.
"It all depends on the
university's capacity," he said. "We can also use male teachers to
teach from behind a curtain or use technology."
The Taliban say they want to
distance themselves from the harsher policies of old, when half the population
was excluded from work and education.
Under new rules, women may work
"in accordance with the principles of Islam", the Taliban have
decreed, but few details have yet been given as to what that exactly might
mean.
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