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Women grooming arsenic midwives and nurses successful Afghanistan person told the BBC they were ordered not to instrumentality to classes successful the greeting - efficaciously closing disconnected their past way to further acquisition successful the country.
Five abstracted institutions crossed Afghanistan person besides confirmed to the BBC that the Taliban had instructed them to adjacent until further notice, with videos shared online showing students crying astatine the news.
The BBC has yet to corroborate the bid officially with the Taliban government's wellness ministry.
However, the closure appears to beryllium successful enactment with the group's wider argumentation connected pistillate education, which has seen teenage girls incapable to entree secondary and higher acquisition since August 2021.
The Taliban person repeatedly promised they would beryllium readmitted to schoolhouse erstwhile a fig of issues were resolved - including ensuring the program was "Islamic".
This has yet to happen.
One of the fewer avenues inactive unfastened to women seeking acquisition was done the country's further acquisition colleges, wherever they could larn to beryllium nurses oregon midwives.
Midwifery and nursing are besides 1 of the lone careers women tin prosecute nether the Taliban government's restrictions connected women - a captious one, arsenic antheral medics are not allowed to dainty women unless a antheral guardian is present.
Just 3 months ago, the BBC was fixed entree to 1 Taliban-run midwife grooming centre, wherever much than a twelve women successful their 20s were learning however to present babies.
The women were blessed to person been fixed the accidental to learn.
“My household feels truthful arrogant of me," a trainee called Safia said. "I person near my children astatine location to travel here, but they cognize I’m serving the country."
But adjacent then, immoderate of the women expressed fearfulness astir whether adjacent this mightiness beryllium stopped eventually.
What volition hap to those women - and different estimated 17,000 women connected grooming courses - is unclear.
No ceremonial announcement has been made, though 2 sources successful the Ministry of Health confirmed the prohibition to BBC Afghan disconnected the record.
In videos sent to the BBC from different grooming colleges, trainees tin beryllium heard weeping.
"Standing present and crying won’t help," a pupil tells a radical of women successful 1 video. "The Vice and Virtue officials [who enforce Taliban rules] are nearby, and I don’t privation thing atrocious to hap to immoderate of you."
Other videos shared with the BBC amusement women softly protesting arsenic they permission the colleges - singing arsenic they marque their mode done the hallways.
One Kabul pupil said she had been told to "wait until further notice".
"Even though it is the extremity of our semester, exams person not yet been conducted, and we person not been fixed support to instrumentality them," she told the BBC.
Another pupil revealed they "were lone fixed clip to drawback our bags and permission the classrooms".
"They adjacent told america not to basal successful the courtyard due to the fact that the Taliban could get astatine immoderate moment, and thing mightiness happen. Everyone was terrified," she said. "For galore of us, attending classes was a tiny glimmer of anticipation aft agelong periods of unemployment, depression, and isolation astatine home."
What this means for women's healthcare besides present remains to beryllium seen: past year, the United Nations said Afghanistan needed an further 18,000 midwives to conscionable the country's needs.
Afghanistan already has 1 of the worst maternal mortality rates successful the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with a study released past twelvemonth noting 620 women were dying per 100,000 unrecorded births.
Additional reporting by BBC Afghan
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