The Taliban has extended its ban on women’s education in Afghanistan, prohibiting female students from studying nursing and midwifery, according to senior employees at several training institutions.
The decision, reportedly conveyed verbally by the Taliban’s supreme leader, adds to the severe restrictions on women’s rights under the current regime.
Health officials informed directors of education institutes in Kabul about the ruling during a Monday meeting. An unnamed public health ministry official disclosed, “There is no official letter, but the directors were instructed in a meeting that women and girls can no longer study in their institutes. No justification was provided—just the order of the supreme leader.”
A manager who attended the meeting told AFP that dozens of institute directors were present. Despite confusion stemming from the lack of a formal document, some institutes have already begun implementing the order, while others await clarification.
Women previously barred from higher education turned to health institutes as one of the few remaining opportunities to continue their studies. Currently, women constitute the majority of the 35,000 students across Afghanistan’s 10 public and over 150 private health institutes.
“This was the only source of hope for the girls and women who were banned from universities,” said Aysha (not her real name), a midwifery teacher at a private institute in Kabul. “This is a big shock for us. Psychologically, we are shaken.”
The ban is expected to exacerbate Afghanistan’s already strained healthcare system. “We are already short of professional medical and paramedical staff, and this would result in further shortages,” a health ministry source warned.
Institute managers are grappling with the implications, with one questioning, “What are we supposed to do with just 10 percent of our students?”
Global Condemnation
The decision has drawn international criticism, with the UK’s charge d’affaires expressing his concerns on X (formerly Twitter). “This is another affront to women’s right to education and will further restrict access to healthcare for Afghan women and children,” he posted.
Broader Context of Gender Apartheid
Since retaking power in 2021, the Taliban has imposed sweeping restrictions on women’s freedoms, including barring girls from secondary education—a policy the United Nations has condemned as “gender apartheid.”
The latest ban removes one of the last avenues available to Afghan women, further deepening their exclusion from public life and limiting essential healthcare access for the country’s population.
