KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban began the university entrance exam, known as Kankor, in central Daykundi province on Thursday with a significantly lower number of participants compared to previous years, and no female students present.
Nasir Mukhlis, the deputy head of Daykundi Institute of Higher Education under Taliban control, announced the exam’s commencement on June 27. Only 973 male candidates participated this year, Mukhlis said, out of the 1,206 who registered.
This stands in stark contrast to the pre-Taliban era, when thousands of male and female students from the province participated annually. In 2021, for instance, over 4,200 students, including more than 1,900 females, took the exam. Last year, the reported number of male participants was around 1,200.
Daykundi students consistently achieved top scores in the Kankor exam for many years, often topping the exam, prior to the Taliban takeover.
Since the Taliban’s return to power and their restrictions on girls’ education, Kankor exam participation has significantly declined nationwide.
In addition to the ban on female education, the Taliban has removed several contemporary subjects from university curriculums, replacing them with religious studies. The Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has reportedly instructed institutes to prioritize religious subjects and recruit more religious teachers.
During the former republic government, over 200,000 applicants, including women, participated in the nationwide university entrance exam. However, that number has drastically fallen to 75,500 applicants this year under Taliban rule.
According to the Taliban authority, this year, a total of 75,500 candidates will be admitted, with 56,878 in public universities, 10,445 in evening faculties, 3,902 in religious studies, and 4,335 in technical institutes.
