Afghan women at risk of exclusion from nursing schools

Afghan women, banned from universities for two years by the Taliban authorities, could soon no longer be able to go to nursing and midwifery schools, several officials told AFP on Tuesday.

“There is no official circular,” a source within the Ministry of Health explained to AFP, “but the directors of establishments were informed during a meeting that women could no longer study in their institutes”.

“No details or explanations were given, they were only told that there was an order from the supreme leader and that it had to be implemented,” continued this source.

Un «apartheid de genre»

The director of a health school in the center of the country confirmed having been informed of this decision by the supreme guide, Hibatullah Akhundzada, during a meeting organized by the ministry.

An executive from a school in Kabul assured that these institutes had “10 days” to organize the exams before the entry into force of this decision restricting the possibilities of studying and working for Afghan women who are already victims, according to the UN, of “gender apartheid”.

“We already lack medical and paramedical personnel, this will worsen the shortage,” worried the source at the ministry which currently lists 35,000 students in more than 150 private institutes and around ten public schools granting a diploma in two years of nursing, midwife, dental assistant or anesthesia.

“We are shaken”

“It’s a big shock, we are shaken,” testifies Aïcha (first name changed, Editor’s note), a 28-year-old midwifery teacher, who says she received a message from her management on Monday indicating that the staff would be on leave the next day, without further explanation.

“It was the only source of hope for girls banned from university. With this ban, they will lose motivation and hope,” she laments to AFP.

The Taliban government, which returned to power in 2021, has increased repressive measures against women in Afghanistan, the only country where girls’ education is prohibited after primary school.

The British charge d’affaires for Afghanistan, Robert Dickson, denounced on

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