New calls to expand Afghan scholarships

There should be an immediate expansion of international scholarships for Afghans, a leading academic rights organisation has said, following the Taliban’s decision to ban women from Afghanistan’s universities. […]

Scholars at Risk, which advocates for academic freedom, said the move was unsurprising and called on the international community to “push back with every diplomatic means available”. It also said there should be an expansion of the international opportunities available to Afghan women.

“Absent an unimaginable reversal of Taliban policies toward women, the most effective response must be an immediate, massive, worldwide expansion of remote and in-person fellowship, scholarship and study opportunities for Afghan women and girls,” said SAR’s executive director Robert Quinn.

“All things considered, the way to deny the Taliban their objective of silencing and sentencing Afghan women to a lifetime of home confinement is to support the educational and professional ambitions of the current and future generations of Afghan women and girls, for as long as it takes, so that when this current misogynistic, corrupt, and incompetent Taliban regime ultimately falls, Afghan women will be ready to take its place.”

Read the full piece.  Reported by Helen Packer for The Pie News.