ISLAMABAD: Taliban authorities in Afghanistan reportedly have agreed to allow female students to pursue higher education in Pakistan, provided that their male guardians also are granted visas to accompany them, according to officials privy to the understanding.
The revelation comes as hundreds of Afghan students took entrance examinations on Saturday to secure admission to graduate, postgraduate and Ph.D. programs in Pakistani universities.
Officials reported that Afghan refugees living in Pakistan attended designated centers in the cities of Peshawar and Quetta to take their exams, while students in Afghanistan are scheduled to participate online over the next few days.
Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, announced in the lead-up to the tests that nearly 21,000 Afghan candidates, including more than 5,000 females, had submitted their applications for the upcoming summer academic sessions.
His office reported “a significant turnout” of Afghan students at the designated test centers on Saturday but did not provide specific numbers.
The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is conducting entrance tests to select up to 2,000 Afghan students, with one-third of the selected candidates being female.
Pakistan expressed its “profound gratitude” to the Kabul government “for agreeing to allow successful female candidates to pursue their education, provided that their mahrams [chaperones] are granted visas to accompany them,” said a government official in Islamabad, requesting anonymity due to a lack of authorization to discuss the matter publicly with the media.
The official stated that visas would be issued to chaperones “to allow them to accompany female students, as mandated by Afghan law,” to study in Pakistani institutions.
The Taliban did not immediately comment on Pakistani assertions that they would let Afghan girls pursue higher education in the neighboring country.
(VOA)
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