The student is a woman majoring in computer science at a private university in Afghanistan, but since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan last year, the main thing that she seems to be studying is the regime’s manipulation of Islam.
The authorities mandated that she and her classmates take — and pay for — four religion classes each semester, leaving little time for computer science. But she’s one of the lucky ones. Her university is open. And she can still take classes in her field.
Other women doing graduate work in computer science were forced to switch concentrations because the university said it can’t afford to have gender-segregated computer science classes for women. And while the Taliban permitted thousands of female university applicants to take entrance exams in recent weeks, a number of subjects were noticeably missing from the limited list of course offerings. These included but were not limited to economics, engineering, journalism, and natural and social sciences.
