Home > 1,000 Women Take University Entrance Exams - Updated: 21-05-2002 12:27 pm
06-02-2002 11:00 pm - For the first time in five years, Afghan women took university entrance examinations yesterday, as 1,000 women joined thousands of men in taking UNESCO-supported exams at Kabul University and other institutions around Afghanistan.
"I'm so proud, so happy that it has happened after so many years," interim Women's Affairs Minister Sima Samar said at a ceremony to open the test-taking. "This is a good sign that many women will be able to continue their education. I'm really amazed."
Before the accession of the Taliban regime with its severe restrictions on women's activities, the 10,000-student Kabul institution counted 4,000 women among its students (Integrated Regional Information Networks, Feb. 6). Under the Taliban, many women continued to study secretly, risking beatings if caught. "We continued to study because education is the path to freedom," said Rahema Sakha, who took the exam in Kabul yesterday (Nancy San Martin, Miami Herald, Feb. 7).
UNESCO Kabul office head Martin Hadlow said Afghans see education as "the key to their future" (IRIN). Mohamed Daud, a prospective law student who took exams yesterday, said "every field has a need for females."
Inside the classrooms where exams were administered, women removed their burqas, in some cases using them as cushions against the wooden seats. "My head is free," said Mahboba Sidiqi, a female test-taker. "No more headaches" (San Martin, Miami Herald).
http://www.unfoundation.org/unwire/current.asp#23667
