Afghan universities reopen to female students but with strict rules on mixing

Afghanistan's public universities opened on Wednesday with female students allowed back on campusfor the first time since the Taliban took over the country last year. The Taliban administration has not officially announced its plan for female university students, but education officials said women were permitted to attend classes on the condition they were separated from male students.

Khalil Ahmad Bihsudwal, the head of Nangarhar University, told Reuters male and female students at the institution would attend separate classes. A female medical student at the university, who asked not be named for security reasons, said classes had been split by gender, but it was not clear if women could be taught by male lecturers or interact with male students outside the classroom.

"Only our studying shifts are separated, although we have been told not to walk around the university until the boys' time is complete," she said. "Despite all the changes and conditions, I still want to continue because my education should not be incomplete."

Shaker Wahidi, an Afghanistan Ministry of Higher Education official told CNN public universities in warmer provinces -- in Nangarhar, Paktia, Paktika, and Kandahar -- would reopen to all male and female students from Wednesday.

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