Male and female students to study in separate classrooms: Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan: Abdul Baqi Haqqani, who has been newly appointed as the acting minister for the Ministry of Higher Education, said on Sunday that in the new government, classrooms for female students will be separate from those of males.

Talking to the officials of public and private universities and employees of the higher education ministry on Sunday, he said the Afghan girls have the right to get education but they cannot study in the same classrooms with boys. He said a safe educational environment will be provided for the female students.

Meanwhile, the former minister of higher education, Abbas Basir, at the same event said the Taliban have promised to preserve the past two decades’ achievements in the education sector and in the higher education ministry. “The higher education ministry has made better progress than any other departments in terms of system-making,” he said.

Union officials from private universities, however, said most of the laws have been imposed on the private universities and they urged the new acting minister to address this problem in the next government.

“The big problem is in the laws and we want the ministry’s officials to rewrite them soon,” said Tariq Kuma, head of the union of private universities. The universities will be reopened soon and that the salaries of lecturers and the ministry’s employees will be paid.