Afghanistan Holds Third Round Of University Entrance Exams As Girls Remain Barred

Afghanistan's Taliban-run National Examination Authority has launched the third round of the country's 1405 university entrance examinations, known as the Kankor, with thousands of candidates sitting the tests at Kabul University.

The latest round is primarily being held for 12th-grade graduates from Kabul province. The second day of examinations is scheduled to continue on Friday, according to the authority.

Rahimullah Haqqani, the administrative and technical deputy head of the National Examination Authority, said more than 110,000 candidates had participated in the first three rounds of the nationwide examinations.

Officials expect the total number of participants to reach around 120,000 after the completion of a fourth round of testing. Registration for the fourth round will remain open until June 8, the authority said.

The exams, however, are being conducted for a fourth consecutive year without the participation of girls.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have barred girls from attending secondary schools beyond sixth grade and prohibited women from studying at universities. The restrictions have effectively prevented female students from participating in the Kankor examinations, which serve as the main gateway to higher education in Afghanistan.

The exclusion of girls from education has drawn widespread criticism from the United Nations, foreign governments and international human rights organizations, which have repeatedly called on the Taliban to reverse the restrictions.

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