By Laila Yousufy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sunday, August 15, final-year university student Gulbakht Nikzad gathered in a classroom with her classmates to discuss plans for their graduation ceremony in Kabul\u2019s Education University. They were excited: four years of hard work was being celebrated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But suddenly they heard shouting. \u201cRun, run quickly!\u201d someone screamed from the corridor, Nikzad remembers. \u201cThe Taliban has entered the city!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t forget that day,\u201d said 22-year-old Nikzad. \u201cWe were frightened. As we said goodbye, we were shaking,\u201d recalled the management student. \u201cWe wondered if it was our last day. We still think it might have been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid August, the group has \u201ctemporarily\u201d banned almost all women\u2019s work and education. The group says it is working on a framework to allow women to return to school and education, but has not provided a timeline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the Taliban\u2019s higher education ministry has said that women will be allowed to attend university but only in \u201cIslamic dress\u201d and once the classrooms have been divided by gender. “We will not allow boys and girls to study together,” said Abdul Baqi Haqqani, the Taliban\u2019s higher education minister, in a press conference on September 12. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, October 18, the group further clamped down, ordering that private universities, which have operated as they wish, including co-education, begin following the Taliban\u2019s rules. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel as if the Taliban took away everything and I am left with nothing, not even my dreams,\u201d siad Nikzad, who was volunteering at a public school where she was due to begin her first job as a teacher after graduating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before the Taliban came, she was set to defend her degree on October 2, a day she had long planned for in advance. \u201cI made a dress to wear on the defence day. It took me several days to figure out the color and the design, I wanted it to be something special,\u201d she said. \u201cNow, every time I look at the dress, I am in pain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Laila Yousufy On Sunday, August 15, final-year university student Gulbakht Nikzad gathered in a classroom with her classmates to discuss plans for their graduation ceremony in Kabul\u2019s Education University. They were excited: four years of hard work was being celebrated. But suddenly they heard shouting. \u201cRun, run quickly!\u201d someone screamed from the corridor, Nikzad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"single_blog_custom":"","sidebar":"","second_sidebar":"","share_position":"","share_float_style":"","post_date_format":"","post_date_format_custom":"","post_reading_time_wpm":"","zoom_button_out_step":"1","zoom_button_in_step":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"","single_post_gallery_size":""}],"trending_post_position":"","trending_post_label":"","sponsored_post_label":"","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[966,902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-en","category-reports-en"],"yoast_head":"\n