Taliban have ordered women to wear niqabs in universities, veil that only reveals the eyes

The Taliban ordered that women attending Afghan private universities wear an abaya dress and a niqab that covers most of their faces, and classes are separated by gender, or at least divided by a curtain.

In a lengthy document released by the Taliban Education Authority, it is also ordered that female students should only receive lessons from other women, something experts have warned as difficult to come across due to the lack of teachers. If that is not possible, they can be replaced with reputable “older men”, the new guidelines say.

The decree applies to private colleges and universities, which have proliferated since the end of the first Taliban government in 2001.

During this period, girls and women were mostly excluded from education due to same-sex class rules and the insistence that they be accompanied by a male parent whenever they were leaving the house.

In the new regulation published late Saturday Women are not required to wear the wrap-around burqa, but the niqab actually covers most of the face, leaving only the eyes exposed.

In recent years, burqas and niqabs have largely disappeared from the streets of Kabul, but are more common in small towns and villages.

The decree comes as private universities prepare to open on Monday. “Universities are obliged to hire female teachers according to their facilities,” said the decree, adding that men and women must use separate entrances and exits.

If it is not possible to hire women as teachers, universities “should try to recruit older professors who have good behavioral records.”

In addition to studying separately, women must finish their lessons five minutes earlier than men to avoid mixing outside.

They must then remain in waiting rooms until their male counterparts have left the building, according to the decree issued by the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education.

“In practice, it’s a difficult plan: we don’t have enough instructors or classes to separate the girlsSaid a university professor, who asked not to be named. “But the fact that girls are allowed to attend schools and universities is a big step forward,” she told AFP.

The new Afghan rulers have vowed to be more accommodating than during their first term in power, which also came after years of conflict: first the Soviet invasion of 1979, then a bloody civil war.

They promised a more “inclusive” government that represents Afghanistan’s complex ethnic makeup, though women are unlikely to be included at higher levels.

In the past 20 years, since the Taliban was last in power, university admission rates have increased dramatically, especially among women.

Before the Taliban returned in a lightning military campaign, entering the capital Kabul last month, women studied alongside men and attended seminars with male teachers.

But a series of deadly attacks on schools in recent years has sparked panic. The Taliban have denied being behind the attacks, some of which have been claimed by the local branch of the Islamic State group.

(With information from AFP)

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