The Taliban administration has agreed to allow Afghan girls to pursue higher education in Pakistan. In a report on Monday, Pakistani media outlet Express Tribune reported that the Taliban government has given this permission on the condition that they be accompanied by male guardians or mahrams.
The announcement was made by the Taliban on Saturday, the same day that Pakistan held an entrance exam. Hundreds of Afghan students competed in the exam for admission to undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programs in Pakistani universities. Afghan refugees living in Pakistan appeared for the exam in Peshawar and Quetta. On the other hand, Afghan students are scheduled to take the exam online in the coming days.
Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, said that about 21,000 Afghan students have applied for the upcoming academic session under the fully-funded Allama Iqbal Scholarship Program. More than a thousand of these students are women. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan will select 2,000 students for this scholarship program. One-third of the places are reserved for female candidates. A Pakistani government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Pakistan’s commitment to issuing visas to guardians to ensure compliance with the Taliban’s conditional agreement and Afghan law.
The recent decision is seen as a significant shift amid growing criticism of the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s rights. The Taliban’s policies towards women have been described by the United Nations as gender discrimination. The Taliban, however, claim that their policies are in line with Islamic law and Afghan culture.
