Kabul [Afghanistan], July 21 : The first set of university exams were held in 11 of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan without any girl or women students in attendance on Thursday, TOLOnews reported.
At least 24,000 people are expected to take the exam over two days, according to the officials.
“There are 24,000 people attending the examination in 11 provinces which will take place today and tomorrow,” said Qudratullah Ahmadi, a member of the national examination authority said on Thursday, according to TOLOnews.
Abdul Rahman Haqqani, the governor of Baghlan, remarked at the examination event, "You attempt to finish your studies and the Islamic Emirate will make efforts to offer jobs for you. However, the statement comes quite contradictory to the rules and regulations imposed on women by the Taliban.
While this was going on, several women students who are not permitted to take the exam criticised Taliban officials for not allowing them to take the exams.
“We also want to be part of it and form our future. Please, I request they allow girls to get their education,” said Hadia Mohammadi, a student, according to TOLOnews.
“They should also allow the girls to get an education. Everyone including the families has requested the reopening of schools for the girls,” a resident of Jawzjan, Fatima said, lamenting over the situation of girls in Afghanistan.
“If the Afghan girls have the education and knowledge, a good government will be created. Today is the examination day for university entrance but we girls are deprived of it,” said Jamia Amini, a resident of Jawzjan in a separate statement.
Meanwhile, some of the male students also urged the temporary administration to permit the women students to take the test.
“Our main wish is to reopen the universities and schools,” said Mohammad Ghafran, a participant of the university entrance examination in Jawzjan, reported TOLOnews.
The National Examination Authority of Afghanistan (NEXA) said that as per a letter issued by the Ministry of Higher Education, only male students can attend the University Entrance Examination this year.
NEXA said on Twitter that the decision was made by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) and sent in a letter to the authority.
“A letter arrived from the Ministry of Higher Education saying that only male students should be recruited. So, this is the responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education to decide who should be giving tests and who should not. NEXA has no responsibility for this,” the authority said.
However, women commented that the government has failed and their removal from society will impact negatively on society, according to TOLO News.
Last month in honour of Malala Day, the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Thomas West said that women and girls in Afghanistan should have complete access to education.
West took to his Twitter account and said, “Afghan women and girls are a tremendous asset to the future of Afghanistan and deserve full access to education to realize their potential."
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, it has banned girls from secondary schools, prohibited women from working for humanitarian aid agencies, and barred women from pursuing higher education.
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