Letter Number: 2271
Date: 29th of Qaws, 1401 (December 20, 2022)
To: All Emirate and Private Institutions and Universities
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
May Allah grant you success in all your affairs.
According to the Cabinet decision of the 28th of Gani, 1443 Hijri, you are hereby informed that the directive (which suspends the education of female students until further notice) must be implemented immediately. Kindly ensure that you carry out this directive and report your actions to the Ministry for confirmation.

Wa Salaam
Mawlawi Nida Mohammad Nadeem
Acting Minister of Higher Education

On December 20, 2022, the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education issued a formal directive suspending access to higher education for female students across all public and private universities “until further notice.” This sweeping ban, grounded in a Cabinet decision, was enforced immediately and applies nationwide.

The directive represents one of the most severe violations of gender equality and the right to education since the Taliban's return to power. By halting the academic futures of thousands of women, it deepens a policy of institutionalized gender-based discrimination and accelerates the regime’s systematic erasure of women from public, professional, and intellectual spheres. This move builds on prior bans restricting girls' secondary education and women’s participation. Framed in religious language, the decree uses moral authority to mask a deeply discriminatory agenda, signaling a broader strategy of gender apartheid that undermines decades of progress in women’s rights in Afghanistan.