However, women will need to wear a head covering and education is under review, new Afghan authorities say.
Women in Afghanistan can continue their studies at universities, including graduates, but classes should be divided between men and women and head covering is compulsory.
The Minister of Higher Education Abdul Baqi Haqqani made the remarks at a press conference on Sunday, just one day after the Taliban hoisted their flag over the palace, marking the start of a new, masculine government announced last week.
The rise of the Taliban led to fears that the group would return to a dictatorship that defined its first settlement in Afghanistan 20 years ago. This includes rejecting education for girls and women, as well as excluding the public.
“We will begin to build on what we have today,” Haqqani said, reiterating the Taliban’s view that their views, especially those of women, have changed in the last 20 years.
The latest news comes as the group seeks international recognition following a series of lightning strikes across the country as the United States prepares to withdraw troops by the end of August 31. The Taliban captured Kabul on August 15.
Although the Taliban remained, women were banned from the sport and the Taliban did used violence in recent days feminist activists want equal rights.
‘I can’t accept training together’
On Saturday, Haqqani said female university students should face restrictions that include forced dress. He also said hijabs are legal but did not specify whether this means compulsory or face-to-face dressing.
Gender equality should also be encouraged, he said. “We do not allow boys and girls to study together,” he said. “We do not allow ordinary education.”
Haqqani said the courses being taught were also reviewed.
Although he did not elaborate, he said he wanted graduates of Afghan universities to compete with university graduates locally and internationally.
The Taliban, a careful and varied translator of Islam, banned music and art in its heyday.
At this point, television was left behind and news channels were still showing women who were showing this, but the Taliban’s message remained distorted.
In an interview with Afghanistan’s TOLO News, Taliban spokesman Syed Zekrullah Hashmi said women should bear children and raise children, and while the Taliban did not order women to participate in government, the prophet said, “It is not necessary for women to be ministers.”
The new system of higher education shows a shift from practices that the Taliban has not yet embraced. Universities were connected, while men and women studied together, and female students were not required to follow the dress code.
However, many female university students chose to wear beads according to their preferences, customs and traditions.
In elementary and high schools, boys and girls are taught differently before the Taliban came to power.