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Kabul: Ministry of Higher Education officials of interim government said that more than 30,000 students, both male and female, started holding a two-day university entrance exam in Kabul on Thursday.
“This exam includes both boys and girls and will be taken over two days, and 30,000 candidates have participated,” said Ahmed Taqi, the Taliban spokesperson for the Ministry of Higher Education.
Some exam candidates welcomed the opportunity to take the exam but urged the IEA to mark their papers fairly and rate them on merit.
Some female students however said they were concerned about the limited opportunities available to them in choosing university courses.
Afghan National Examination Authority (NEA) said that several faculties have decided to offer the full range of courses only to men and restrict it for women because they don’t see a scope for female students in the future.
However, the Taliban claimed they have not imposed restrictions on the choice of courses for students.
“There was no restriction from the Ministry of Higher Education, but maybe some universities have told girls not to choose certain faculties,” Ministry of Higher Education spokesperson Ahmad Taqi said at a press conference last week.
The competition will be held in the center during two days (Thursday and Friday).
The National Administration of Entrance Examination has said that the entrance examination was held in 33 provinces in the first round, and the last entrance examination round began in Kabul today.
In total, an expected 150,000 candidates nationwide will sit this year’s exam – of which 115,000 will be accepted to tertiary education facilities, officials said.
