Afghanistan Taliban to ban women from ‘midwifery and nursing’ courses amid an already ‘suffering health sector’
Afghanistan: Health officials held a meeting in Kabul with the heads of educational institutions to communicate the directive banning health courses for women.
Afghanistan is planning to ban women from enrolling in nursing and midwifery courses, news agency AFP reported, citing senior staff at multiple institutions. The decision follows an edict from the Taliban’s supreme leader, the report added.
A health ministry official said the ban would exacerbate the challenges already faced by the country's struggling healthcare system. “We are already short of professional medical and para-medical staff, which would result in further shortages,” the source told AFP.
While no formal announcement has been made, two officials from the ministry of health confirmed the ban to BBC Afghan unofficially. Videos shared with the BBC showed trainees at some institutes weeping over the news.
On Monday, health officials held a meeting in Kabul with heads of educational institutions to communicate the directive, an unnamed public health ministry official told AFP.
"There is no official letter, but the directors of institutes were informed in a meeting that women and girls can't study anymore in their institutes," the official said. "They were not provided with any details and justification and were just told of the order of the supreme leader and were asked to implement it."
An institute manager who attended the meeting anonymously confirmed that dozens of directors were present. Another senior employee stated that his centre's leadership attended a separate meeting on Tuesday amid confusion over the rule.
The employee said institutes have been given 10 days to complete final exams, while some managers sought clarification from the ministry, and others continued operations in the absence of a written directive.
Following the Taliban's return to power in 2021, authorities barred girls from secondary and higher education, drawing international condemnation and accusations of "gender apartheid" from the United Nations. Health training institutes had been one of the few remaining educational opportunities for women, who now form the majority of students in these programs.
Afghanistan has approximately 10 public and over 150 private health institutes offering two-year diplomas in 18 subjects such as midwifery, anaesthesia, pharmacy, and dentistry, with 35,000 women currently enrolled, according to health ministry data.
"What are we supposed to do with just 10 percent of our students?" asked one institute manager.
Students react
A midwifery teacher at a private institute in Kabul received a message from her management instructing her not to return to work until further notice, with no detailed explanation.
"This is a big shock for us. Psychologically, we are shaken," said the 28-year-old. "This was the only source of hope for the girls and women who were banned from universities."
The United Kingdom's charge d'affaires expressed concern over the reports, calling it "another affront to women's right to education" and warning that it would "further restrict access to healthcare for Afghan women and children," in a post on the social media platform X.
The decision marks the latest in a series of restrictive measures imposed on Afghan women since the Taliban's return to power in 2021. In August, the regime ordered women to wear full-body coverings, including face veils, in public.
In October, the Taliban issued another decree restricting women from praying aloud in the presence of others. The order, announced by Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, Taliban minister for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice, stated that women should avoid audibly reciting the Quran when around other women. Hanafi justified this by claiming that a woman’s voice is considered "awrah"—something that must be concealed—and should not be heard publicly, even by other women, according to Afghan news outlet Amu TV.
Taliban's oppression of women
The Taliban's track record on women's rights is alarming. According to Amnesty International, the regime has:
- Prevented girls from attending secondary school
- Restricted women's access to work and education
- Enforced strict guidelines on permissible clothing
- Arbitrarily detained women and girls for "moral corruption"
- Contributed to a surge in child, early, and forced marriages.
Recommended Topics 