In December 2024, it was reported that the Taliban had forced 12 professors to resign from their positions at Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University in Kunar province in apparent retaliation for their ideological opposition.

Those dismissed included eight from the Faculty of Sharia, two from the Faculty of Agriculture, and two from the Faculty of Education. One of the faculty members who lost his position later fled Afghanistan.

The forced resignations appear to be part of a broader attempt by the Taliban to impose ideological conformity in the higher education sector.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the forced resignation of scholars as a result of government interference and in apparent retaliation for their exercising their rights to freedom of expression. Higher education and government officials should respect scholars’ exercise of such rights and refrain from disciplinary actions that punish or deter nonviolent expressive activity. Moreover, this is an instance of direct encroachment by the government on the university’s authority to set policies concerning personnel, admissions, curricula, and the establishment of particular programs. External actors, including government officials and political actors have a right to free expression, but should not be permitted to impose undue pressure on universities’ academic decisions, including those relating to the hiring and firing of academic personnel, or curricula. Universities should take measures to ensure, wherever possible, that such decisions remain free from outside pressure and are driven solely by academic considerations. Such actions undermine university autonomy and inhibit institutions’ ability to function freely,

Sources:
https://themedialine.org/top-stories/taliban-purge-academics-reshape-afghan-education-with-extremist-agenda/
https://8am.media/eng/the-talibans-assault-on-universities-political-revenge-or-the-reengineering-of-higher-education-into-religious-schools/