Following the Taliban’s ban on women’s university education, a number of lecturers at state and private universities have resigned from their posts to protest the Taliban’s cabinet decision. A total of 13 lecturers have so far resigned in the capital Kabul and some provinces.
The lecturers who have resigned are as follows.
- Mohammad Omar Kunduzi, Economics faculty of Kunduz University
- Zakaria Shanizi, Geology faculty of Polytechnic University
- Mohammad Hadi Asadi, Polytechnic University
- Ubaidullah Wardak, Kabul University
- Faiz Rahman, Kabul University
- Safiullah Samoon, Kandahar University
- Waliulhaq Shafaq, Takhar University
- Dr. Abdulazim Momand, Kabul University
- Mustafa Kamil Mohammad, Bamyan University
- Ishaq Shahbaz, a private university
- Jawid Momand, a private university
- Toryalai Fakhri, Ghalib and Jami private universities in Herat
- Mohammad Ishaq Shahbaz, Barak private university in Nimruz
In the meantime, a reliable source at Takhar University told Kabul Now that nine lecturers of the university have submitted their resignation letters to the University’s administration. The University’s chancellor has yet to approve their resignations, the source added.
The Taliban’s ban on university education for women has ignited strong reactions inside and outside Afghanistan. On Tuesday, December 20, the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education instructed all government and private universities that higher education is banned for women until further notice.
After the group returned to power in August 2021, it banned secondary education for girls in March 2021.
The United Nations, the United States, Germany, the UK, Islamic Cooperation Organization, Human Rights Watch, and many more have all condemned the Taliban’s cabinet decision.