FPJ-Ed: Afghan women despair due to closed public universities, no employment opportunities

Women in Afghanistan continue to wait for the Taliban regime to provide them with basic rights to study and work. Several female students in eastern Nangarhar province expressed mounting frustration at the lack of access to public universities and job opportunities.

Ahmad Khan, who is a teacher in Nangarhar province, said that three of his daughters were students at the Department of Agriculture, Engineering, and Literature at Nangarhar University, but for months the doors of public universities have been closed to them, Tolo News reported on Friday.

Kerishma, a 20-year-old woman living in the Shiwa district of Nangarhar, told Tolo News that she and her younger sister (Zala) had passed the entrance exams for the engineering and literature departments at Nangarhar University last year, but had not yet been able to join their classes.

"I succeeded in the engineering department. The year ended and I could not go to university. I'm very worried when I look at the empty notebooks that I have not written anything," said Kerishma, a student."

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Since the universities have been closed, our dreams and aspirations have been reduced. All girls like me are worried about our future, I hope educational institutions open for girls," Tolo News quoted Zala, Kerishma's sister as saying.

Ziba, who is a second-year student in the Agriculture department at Nangarhar University, and is the elder sister of Kerishma and Zala, said that she has faced many challenges during her schooling, but due to the outbreak of COVID-19 disease and the collapse of the previous government, universities have been closed twice to students, the Afghan media reported.

"Public and private universities must be opened. This is very important for women because a number of women have not studied, graduated, and are working to support their families," she said.

Ziba urged the Taliban to let women continue their education. Meanwhile, based on available statistics, over 15,000 students were studying at Nangarhar University, and nearly 3,000 of them were female students, as per Tolo News