Afghan students will not be able to mingle with men in classrooms and must wear a black abbey and a niqab to cover their faces, according to a decree issued by the Taliban regime the day before private universities reopened.
In addition, women enrolled in these establishments must leave class five minutes before the men and wait in a room until the latter have left the building, said the decree, dated Saturday and published by the Ministry of Education Superior.
Universities, meanwhile, will have to “hire professors for students” or try to hire “senior professors” whose morality has been proven, the decree said.
During the first term of the Islamist movement (1996-2001) the ban on mixed classes prevented almost all women from studying.
At that time, the use of the burqa was mandatory, the veil completely covers the body, from head to toe, with a net at eye level.
The abbey, which will have to be worn by private school students, is a long veil that covers the whole body. The niqab, on the other hand, covers the face but leaves the eyes in sight.
The international community is waiting to see what treatment the Taliban give to women’s rights, following their takeover on August 15.
Since then, the Islamist movement has sought to offer a more moderate temperament.
As for the fact that mixed classes are banned, “it will be complicated from a practical point of view, we do not have enough teachers or enough classrooms to separate girls” from boys, a teacher told AFP university, who requested anonymity.
“But the fact that they allow girls to go to school and college is, in itself, an important and positive step,” she added.
Before the Taliban returned to power, Afghan students were able to attend mixed classes and courses taught by men.