Varsities in Afghanistan reopen with curtain dividing male and female students

In a bid to resume educational activities disrupted last month, the students across Afghanistan have returned to educational institutes for the first time after Taliban take over the country by storm in August. However, the pictures circulating on social media show female students have been separated in the classroom from their male peers by curtains or boards.

The rights of women under the Taliban rule have been closely watched by the foreign powers, who stressed on the need for respect of the rights of women, especially their right to learn.

It is pertinent to note that during 1996-2001, the group barred girls from continuing education as well as working in the offices.

Teachers and students at universities in Afghanistan's largest cities - Kabul, Kandahar and Herat - told the international news agency that female students were being segregated in class, taught separately or restricted to certain parts of the campus.

According to reports, a document drawing rules for resuming class dispersed by an association of private universities in Afghanistan listed measures such as the obligatory hijabs and segregated entrances and classrooms for female students.

It also directed that female teachers should be hired to teach female students, and that female students should be taught separately or, in smaller classes, segregated by a curtain.