Human rights groups and activists have condemned the Taliban decision to only permit male students to sit Afghanistan’s university entrance exam, saying it will ultimately paralyze the country’s future.
The National Examination Authority released the results of the Kankor test that’s required to move into higher education.
Girls had frequently topped the test in the years before August 2021 when the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan and closed girls’ high schools. Now only male students are counted.
Former chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission Shaharzad Akbar said Tuesday that the Taliban’s persistence in excluding women from all areas of public life, but especially from education, will cripple Afghanistan’s societal future.
Afghan researcher Orzala Nemat said on the social media platform X that the exclusion was a form of “gender apartheid” and a long-term crime against the Afghan.
Another X user Nemat Zafari said that this is the second consecutive year Afghan girls and women have been denied entry into higher education.
The Kankor results for Persian year 1403 went public on Saturday, July 20.
Atal Khan Rahimzoy from Habibia High School scored the top mark of 359.6 points and has been admitted to Kabul Medical University.
Sayid Majid from Balkh, Shafiqullah Nezami from Farah, and Ershad Ahmad from Logar respectively attained the second to fourth positions in this year’s university’s entrance exam.
