The Taliban administration in Afghanistan is conditional to allow Afghan women to continue higher education in Pakistan. This agreement depends on the condition that their male guards, or Mahrams, obtain visas to accompany them.
The announcement coincided with the entrance exams that held on Saturday, where hundreds of Afghan students competed for places in graduate, third cycle and doctorate programs in Pakistani universities. Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan attended the tests in Peshawar and Quetta, while students in Afghanistan should take on online exams in the coming days.
Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, revealed that around 21,000 Afghan students, more than 5,000 women, had applied for upcoming academic sessions as part of the Allama Iqbal scholarship program program fully funded. The Pakistan Higher Education Commission (HEC) is responsible for selecting up to 2,000 students, with a third of the spots reserved for candidates.
An official of the Pakistani government, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the Taliban’s conditional agreement and Pakistan’s commitment to issue visas so that tutors comply with Afghan laws. The Taliban, however, did not officially comment on this development.
The scholarship initiative, designed to strengthen the links between the two nations, focuses on the supply of education in fields such as medicine, engineering, agriculture and IT. He had already been disrupted after the Taliban found power in 2021, prohibiting the education of girls beyond the sixth year and preventing Afghan women from traveling without male companions.
This recent decision marks a significant change in the mid -criticism of the Taliban restrictions on women’s rights, which the United Nations described as “gender apartheid”. While the Taliban defend their policies as in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture, international calls to political inversions persist.
Entrance exams come to a time of tense relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, exacerbated by accusations that the anti-Pakistani activists of the Taliban port. Despite these tensions, the two nations endeavor to promote cooperation in education, trade and other sectors, in the hope of improving bilateral relations.
