- Taliban closes midwifery schools
- Women's education shut down
- Maternal mortality rate to worsen
Women training as midwives and nurses in Afghanistan have shared with the BBC that they have been ordered not to return to their classes, effectively shutting down their last remaining avenue for further education in the country.
Five separate institutions across Afghanistan have confirmed to the BBC that the Taliban issued instructions for the colleges to close until further notice, with videos circulating online showing emotional students in response to the news.
While the BBC has yet to receive official confirmation from the Taliban government’s Ministry of Health regarding the order, the closures appear to align with the group’s broader stance on female education. Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, teenage girls have been barred from accessing secondary and higher education.
The Taliban had previously promised that schools for girls would reopen once a number of issues, including ensuring the curriculum was “Islamic,” were resolved. However, these conditions have yet to be met.
For women seeking to further their education, midwifery and nursing training had remained one of the few available paths. These fields also represent one of the only careers women can pursue under the strict rules of the Taliban government, which prohibits male medics from treating women unless a male guardian is present.
Just three months ago, the BBC was granted access to a Taliban-run midwifery training centre, where over a dozen women in their 20s were being trained to deliver babies. At that time, the women expressed gratitude for the opportunity to learn.
“My family feels so proud of me,” said Safia, a trainee at the centre. “I have left my children at home to come here, but they know I’m serving the country.”
Despite their optimism, some of the women voiced concerns about the future of their education, fearing that even these limited opportunities might soon be taken away.
The fate of the women currently enrolled in midwifery and nursing courses, along with an estimated 17,000 other women in training, remains uncertain. No formal announcement has been made regarding the closure, but two sources within the Ministry of Health have confirmed the suspension to BBC Afghan on the condition of anonymity.
In videos sent to the BBC from other training colleges, the sound of women crying can be heard. In one video, a student tells a group of women, “Standing here and crying won’t help. The Vice and Virtue officials [who enforce Taliban rules] are nearby, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to any of you.”
Other footage shows women protesting quietly as they leave the colleges, singing as they walk through the hallways.
One student from Kabul described being told to “wait until further notice.” “Even though it is the end of our semester, exams have not yet been conducted, and we have not been given permission to take them,” she explained.
Another student shared that they were given only a brief moment to gather their belongings. “They even told us not to stand in the courtyard because the Taliban could arrive at any moment, and something might happen. Everyone was terrified,” she said. “For many of us, attending classes was a small glimmer of hope after long periods of unemployment, depression, and isolation at home.”
The situation also raises concerns about the future of women’s healthcare in Afghanistan. The United Nations has previously stated that the country requires an additional 18,000 midwives to meet its healthcare needs. Afghanistan already suffers from one of the highest maternal mortality rates globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a report released last year noted that 620 women die per 100,000 live births in the country.
The closure of midwifery and nursing training programs could further exacerbate the already dire healthcare situation, leaving a gap in vital medical services for women and children.
