The Taliban has outlawed co-education in Afghanistan’s Herat province

Kabul: Just days after promising to respect women’s rights in Afghanistan, Taliban officials in Herat province banned co-education in government and private universities, calling it the “root of all evils in society.”

The decision was made following a meeting between university professors, private institution owners, and Taliban officials, according to Khaama Press News Agency on Saturday.

This is the Taliban’s first ‘fatwa’ since seizing control of Afghanistan last week. The capture of Kabul’s capital on Sunday marked the end of the United States’ longest war, which began in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In an effort to portray a more moderate stance, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime spokesman, promised to honour women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law in his first-ever public appearance to address those concerns at a news conference on Tuesday.

During a three-hour meeting of university professors and private educational institution owners, Taliban representative and Afghanistan’s Head of Higher Education, Mullah Farid, stated that there is no alternative and that co-education must end.

He also stated that virtuous female lecturers would be permitted to teach only female students and not male students.
According to the report, Farid called co-education the “root of all evils in society.”

Afghanistan has implemented a mixed system of co-education and gender-based separate classes in all universities and institutes over the last two decades.

Government universities, according to educationalists, will be unaffected by the decision, but private institutes, which already have a low number of female students, will struggle.

According to official figures, Herat has 40,000 students and 2,000 lecturers in private and public universities and colleges.