General News
Education: Afghan Universities Deserted As Taliban Impose New Rules
As curtain divides male, female students
classroom conditions at Avicenna University in Kabul, Afghanistan
Universities in Kabul were almost empty on the first day of the Afghan school year, as professors and students wrestled with the Taliban’s restrictive new rules for the classroom.
The Taliban have promised a softer rule than during their first stint in power from 1996-2001, when women’s freedoms in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed and they were banned from higher education.
This time, the hardline Islamist group have said women will be allowed to go to private universities under the new regime, but they face tough restrictions on their clothing and movement.
Women can only attend class if they wear an abaya — a flowing robe — and a niqab — a face veil with a small window to see through — and are separated from men, the Taliban said.
“Our students don’t accept this and we will have to close the university,” said Noor Ali Rahmani, the director of Gharjistan University in Kabul, on an almost empty campus on Monday.
“Our students wear the hijab, not the niqab,” he added, referring to a headscarf.
The Taliban education authority issued a lengthy document on Sunday outlining their measures for the classroom, which also ruled that men and women should be segregated — or at least divided by a curtain if there are 15 students or less.
“We said we didn’t accept it because it will be difficult to do,” Rahmani told AFP.
“We also said that it is not real Islam, it is not what the Koran says.”
From now on at private colleges and universities, which have mushroomed since the Taliban’s first rule ended, women must only be taught by other women, or “old men”, and use a women-only entrance.
They must also end their lessons five minutes earlier than men to stop them from mingling outside.
So far, the Taliban has said nothing about public universities.
– ‘Let’s engage’ –
For some students, however, it was a relief that women would still be able to attend university at all under a new Taliban regime.
Zuhra Bahman, who runs a scholarship programme for women in Afghanistan, said on social media she had spoken to some of the students.
“They are happy to go back to university, albeit in hijab,” she said.
“Taliban opening universities for women is a key progress. Let’s continue to engage to agree on other rights and freedoms.”
Jalil Tadjlil, a spokesman for Ibn-e Sina University in the capital, said separate entrances had already been created for men and women.
“We didn’t have the authority to accept or reject the decisions that have been imposed,” he told AFP, blaming the “ongoing uncertainty” for the lack of students.
The university posted a picture online of male and female students separated by a curtain.
Images shared on Facebook by its department of economics and management showed six women wearing the hijab and ten male students with a grey curtain running between them, as a male teacher wrote on a whiteboard.
– ‘Everything changed’ –
Usually, campus corridors on the first day of the term would be packed with students catching up after the summer.
But on Monday, there was a strikingly low turnout at Kabul’s universities, leaving education leaders wondering just how many young, talented people have fled the country as part of the “brain drain”.
Rahmani said only 10 to 20 percent of the 1,000 students who enrolled last year came to Gharjistan University on Monday, although there were no classes scheduled.
He estimated up to 30 percent of the students left Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control in the middle of August.
“We have to see first if students come,” he said.
Reza Ramazan, a computer science teacher at the university said women students were particularly at risk when travelling to campus.
“It can be dangerous at checkpoints,” he said. “The Taliban can check their phones and computers.”
For 28-year-old computer science student Amir Hussein, “everything changed completely” after the Taliban takeover.
“Many students are not interested anymore in studying because they don’t know what their future will be,” he said.
“Most of them want to leave Afghanistan.”
AFP
At a solemn ordination service in Abuja, senior church leaders have called on pastors to make the well-being of their congregations a top priority, following the example of Jesus Christ.
Speaking during the priesthood ordination and installation of a Sub Dean at the Cathedral Church of Advent, Life Camp, Abuja, the retired Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Okene, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Ajulo, described pastors as shepherds charged with the care of their flock. He urged them to shun worldly distractions and focus on meeting the spiritual and material needs of their members.
Bishop Ajulo also encouraged the newly ordained priests to remain faithful to their calling by teaching God’s word without compromise.
In his charge, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, urged the new clergy to preach the undiluted gospel and foster religious harmony wherever they serve. He expressed confidence that their new roles would help promote peace and unity in society.
The service also featured prayers for national leaders and divine intervention in addressing the current global economic challenges.
In a dramatic show of faith and patriotism, over 1,000 fiery prayer warriors from across Nigeria will descend on Ilorin, Kwara State, this Saturday, lifting their voices in intense intercession for President Bola Tinubu’s success and Nigeria’s survival in the face of biting economic woes and mounting insecurity.
The spiritual siege, themed “Walking in Domini”, is the maiden convention of the Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC), with its Kwara State Chairman, Evangelist Thomas Adeboye, vowing that “heaven will hear and respond to Nigeria’s cry.”
Aside from marathon prayers, the gathering will roll out free medical outreach to locals across Kwara’s LGAs, a gesture aimed at touching both body and soul.
Adeboye, lamenting Nigeria’s “troubling economic and security realities”, called for a nationwide prayer uprising, insisting that Tinubu has shown the will to revive the nation but needs massive divine backing to succeed.
“Banditry, a collapsing economy, and political tension demand we seek God’s face like never before,” he declared. “We will storm heaven for wisdom for the President and governors to steer Nigeria to safety.”
The convention will also feature awards to distinguished personalities, soul-lifting worship, fiery sermons, and unity-driven lectures—all capped with thunderous prayers for Nigeria’s redemption.
Adeboye urged the President to ensure every policy has “a human face,” stressing that Nigerians must not only endure but also enjoy the fruits of governance.
With the OAIC promising to reaffirm believers’ authority in Christ and rally spiritual boldness in the face of national challenges, Ilorin is set to become the epicentre of a powerful spiritual warfare for Nigeria’s destiny.
…Church leaders accuse Welsh counterparts of “spiritual decadence” and “abandonment of faith”
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has issued a forceful condemnation of the election of Rt. Rev. Cherry Vann, an openly lesbian cleric, as the Archbishop of Wales. The move is the latest in a series of developments that have deepened divisions within the global Anglican Communion over sexuality and doctrine.
In a statement from Primate The Most Rev’d Henry Ndukuba, the church denounced the election as a “serious departure from biblical teaching” and a sign of “spiritual decadence” and “an outright abandonment of the faith once delivered to the saints.”
Archbishop Ndukuba warned that Bishop Vann’s elevation compromises the Anglican Church’s global mission and could obstruct evangelism. He compared the situation to the controversial tenure of Most Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, former Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, who also faced intense criticism from conservative Anglicans for her progressive views.
The Primate accused Bishop Vann of being complicit in the “ongoing crisis” around same-sex issues, stating that the election is a “clear revelation that many who claim to be members of the body of Christ cannot endure sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).
The Church of Nigeria called on Anglicans worldwide to reject “rebels” and “apostates” and to instead support conservative bodies like the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).
“The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) condemns, unequivocally rejects, and will not recognize the election of Rt. Rev. Cherry Vann as Archbishop of Wales,” Ndukuba declared. He concluded with a solemn warning that without repentance, the Church in Wales risks losing “complete relevance” and its leaders will face judgment.
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