Women training as midwives and nurses in Afghanistan have told the BBC they were ordered not to return to classes in the morning – effectively closing off their last route to further education in the country.
Five separate institutions across Afghanistan have also confirmed to the BBC that the Taliban had instructed them to close until further notice, with videos shared online showing students crying at the news
The BBC has yet to confirm the order officially with the Taliban government’s health ministry.
However, the closure appears to be in line with the group’s wider policy on female education, which has seen teenage girls unable to access secondary and higher education since August 2021.
The Taliban have repeatedly promised they would be readmitted to school once a number of issues were resolved – including ensuring the curriculum was “Islamic”.
This has yet to happen.
One of the few avenues still open to women seeking education was through the country’s further education colleges, where they could learn to be nurses or midwives.
Midwifery and nursing are also one of the only careers women can pursue under the Taliban government’s restrictions on women – a vital one, as male medics are not allowed to treat women unless a male guardian is present.
Just three months ago, the BBC was given access to one Taliban-run midwife training centre, where more than a dozen women in their 20s were learning how to deliver babies.
The women were happy to have been given the chance to learn.
“My family feels so proud of me,” a trainee called Safia said. “I have left my children at home to come here, but they know I’m serving the country.”
But even then, some of the women expressed fear about whether even this might be stopped eventually.
What will happen to those women – and another estimated 17,000 women on training courses – is unclear.
No formal announcement has been made, although two sources in the Ministry of Health confirmed the ban to BBC Afghan off the record.
