Taliban Minister Haqani: And women in college, they're separate from men.

Women in Afghanistan will be allowed to study at universities, as the country wants to be rebuilt after decades of war, but gender division and Islamic dress code will be mandatory, the new Taliban High Education Minister said Sunday.

Minister Abdul Bacqi Hakqani said the new Taliban government, appointed last week, “will start building the country on what exists today” and would not want to turn the clock back 20 years when the movement was in power for the last time.

He said female students would be taught by women wherever possible and classes would remain separate, in accordance with the interpretation of the Islamic law of maturity, Reuters writes, broadcast Klankosova.tv.

Thank God we have a large number of women's teachers. We will not face any problems with this. All efforts will be made to locate and provide women teachers for female students”, he said at a press conference in Kabul.

The issue of women's education has been one of the central questions facing Taliban, while they seek to convince the world that they have changed since the harsh fundamental rule they decided in the 1990s, when women were stopped mainly from studying or working abroad.

Taliban officials have said women will be able to study and work in accordance with the law of maturity and local cultural traditions, but strict dress rules will be implemented.

Haqqani said that the religious hygiene covers would be mandatory for all students, but did not specify whether it meant headscarves or mandatory facial coverage.

Haqhan said that where there were no teachers, special measures would be approved to ensure separation.

“When there is a real need, men can also teach women, but in accordance with the maturity, they should respect sail”, he said.

Classes would be limited to sharing male and female students where necessary, and learning could also be done through broadcast or TV with closed districts.

Haqqani told reporters that gender division would be implemented throughout Afghanistan and all classes learned in colleges will also be revised in the coming months.