Enrollment Drops By 70% in Universities, Educational Centers

The union of universities and educational centers said that the recent restrictions on female education has severely affected the universities.

The media director of the union, Mohammad Karim Nasiri, said that the number of participants has dropped by 70 percent.

“If we speak generally, enrollment has dropped from 60 to 70 percent in the universities. Prior to this many people were registering,” he said.

Owners of educational centers and universities expressed concerns that if the situation continues like this, they would be forced to close their universities and other educational facilities.

“It has affected our activities because we used to have income from two sources but now we have one source,” said Shir Ali Zarifi, head of the Dawat university.

Saturday, the acting Minister of Higher Education, Mawlawi Mohammad Neda Nadim, in a religious ceremony said they would support the educational sector of the country.

The university instructors believe that banning girls from going to school above grade six and poverty are the main reasons for the drop in enrollment of universities in the country.

“The Islamic Emirate should reopen the universities for the girls and prevent strict policies and allow the students to continue their education,” said Fazal Hadi Wazin, a university instructor.

“If policies that can be trusted are made for the future, the return of students to universities and studies will increase,” said Sayed Jawad Sijadi, a university instructor.

Based on figures of the union, if the restrictions on girls’ access to education are not changed, 40 universities will be forced to close.