The European Union has condemned the Taliban for violating human rights and women’s access to education after media reports that the Taliban’s leader has ordered private and public institutions to stop providing medical courses for women and girls in Afghanistan. The Taliban have neither confirmed the order nor responded to the media reports. The Public Health Ministry spokesman was unavailable for comment. The BBC and others reported that women training as midwives and nurses were ordered not to return to classes Wednesday. In September 2021, a month after they returned to power, the Taliban stopped schooling for girls after grade six. Medical education, like nursing and midwifery, was one of the few ways they could continue their learning in classrooms.
