Afghanistan: students will have to wear a full veil and will be separated from men, according to a decree – franceinfo

The Taliban issue their first rules for women. Afghan students will be required to wear a black abaya, with a niqab covering their face, and will take lessons in single-sex classes, according to a decree issued by the new regime on the eve of the reopening of private universities in the country.

Women registered in these establishments will also have to leave the class five minutes before the students and wait in waiting rooms until the latter have left the premises, specifies this decree dated Saturday, September 4 and published by the Ministry of Higher Education.

Universities will be required to “recruit female teachers for female students”, or try to recruit “older teachers” whose morality will have been scrutinized, can we still read in this decree.

When the fundamentalist movement first came to power between 1996 and 2001, the single sex rule had prevented almost all women from studying. Wearing the burqa, a long veil completely covering the head and body, with a wire mesh covering the eyes, was then compulsory. The abaya, which students in private institutions must wear, is a large veil covering the body. The niqab covers the face and reveals the eyes.

Regarding single-sex classes, “It’s going to be complicated from a practical point of view, we don’t have enough teachers or enough classrooms to separate the girls” boys, said a university professor to AFP, who requested anonymity. “But the fact that they allow girls to go to school and go to university is in itself an important and positive step.”, he adds. Before the Taliban returned, female Afghan students could attend classes in mixed classes and attend seminars given by men.