Taliban hides female students behind curtain as Afghan universities return

Kieran Galpin

Taliban have said they are committed to upholding the rights of women

Students in the now Taliban-controlled Afghanistan are being separated by gender, with curtains diving classrooms in two.

Pictures emerged on Monday showing a large curtain between male and female students, with women wearing completely covering veils and the men dressed in traditional Afghan clothing, The Telegraph reports.

UPDATE: Afghanistan universities begin gender separation in classes to enforce rules reportedly issued by Taliban education office. These images are from classroom at Ibn-e-Sina University Kabul pic.twitter.com/rX57A73RFP

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The picture is said to have come from Ibn-e-Sina University Kabul where the Taliban education office is now enforcing segregation.

It comes after the Taliban issued a substantial legal document with instructions on how women should be taught in schooling systems including the demand that they wear full-body veils and cover most of their heads.

The document, published by the Taliban’s education authority, also decreed that students should be taught by members of their own sex if possible.

“Universities are required to recruit female teachers for female students based on their facilities,” it added and dictated that men and women should use separate entrances and exits to universities.

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The Telegraph also says that women are expected to arrive five minutes early and leave before the rest of the class is dismissed. It is understood that this is to prevent the mingling of sexes pre and post-lesson.

“Practically, it is a difficult plan, we don’t have enough female instructors or classes to segregate the girls,” an Afghan university professor told the AFP News agency.

There are fears that the Taliban’s presence will again return the rights of Afghan women that of the late 90’s where they were forbidden to seek education or work. However, despite these fears, the Taliban have insisted that they are committed to preserving the rights of women.