Afghan Taliban "Considering Allowing All Female Students to Attend School Starting Late March"

On the 28th of last month, women in Kabul, Afghanistan, were protesting against the Taliban's restrictions on women. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Taliban, the ruling power in Afghanistan, is considering allowing female students to attend school starting from the end of March. The Taliban has restricted women's social activities and education under Islamic law.

According to the Associated Press on the 15th (local time), Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Taliban government, stated in an interview, "Starting from March 21, the beginning of the new year in the Islamic calendar, we plan to create classrooms for all female students."

Since the Taliban regained power last August, it has been reported that in about 20 out of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, female students above 7th grade are not allowed to attend public schools.

However, spokesperson Mujahid added, "Male and female students must be completely separated at school." This means that beyond separating male and female students into different classrooms, they should be accommodated in separate school buildings.

To this end, securing enough dormitories and hostels where female students can stay while attending school is a major task, Mujahid said.

He also added, "We are working to resolve related issues by the new year so that schools can be open to female students."

Meanwhile, unlike during their first rule in the 1990s when they claimed to guarantee the enhancement of women's rights, the Taliban has recently tightened regulations on women, drawing criticism from the international community. Regulations have been announced one after another, such as prohibiting women from traveling long distances without a close male relative accompanying them or banning women from using public bathhouses.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.