Higher education will be open to men and women based on Sharia: Deputy PM

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan, said Tuesday that “based on Sharia principles”, education opportunities should be provided for both men and women in the country.

In a meeting with Afghan university lecturers, Baradar stated that higher education is critical in terms of meeting the needs to develop the country.

He noted the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is in favor of providing education opportunities for Afghan “men and women based in Sharia principals.”

Baradar added that universities will resume normal classes soon.

Public universities have been closed since the sudden collapse of the former government of Afghanistan on August 15, last year.

Last week, Acting Higher Education Minister Mawlavi Abdul Baqi Haqqani also stated educational institutions would reopen soon.

Haqqani said the Ministry of Higher Education was committed to standardizing all educational institutions in the country and that private universities without licenses would no longer have the right to enroll new students.

He said efforts were being made to make Afghanistan’s education system competitive with the rest of the world. He also said scholarships for Afghan students have been discussed with officials from the Ministries of Higher Education of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and the European Union.

Haqqani reiterated that the country’s education system is based on the Islamic system and that all Sharia and Islamic laws must be observed at educational institutions.