Taliban steps up its ‘Islamisation’ of universities agenda

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has signalled its intention, via a string of back-to-back policies and directives issued to universities, to speed up the ‘Islamisation’ of public universities, allowing Taliban-linked religious figures without the requisite academic qualifications greater rights to intervene in academic matters.

One directive issued earlier this month by the Higher Education Ministry in Kabul makes it compulsory for Islamic Studies professors at Afghan universities to undergo “proficiency exams” under religious figures holding no formal academic credentials or holding what are described by academics as “vague credentials” from religious seminaries or madrasas in Pakistan.

According to an official letter from the Taliban’s higher education ministry and published in various news outlets, a special committee has been set up to oversee the exams, led by the head of the Taliban’s Department of Islamic Specialisations and including deans of Sharia (Islamic Law) faculties of public universities and a faculty member from each province.

The directive specifies that the exams will focus on Islamic subjects, with study materials provided by the Department of Islamic Specialisations. The results will be used to evaluate the academic standing of professors and ensure compliance with Taliban-approved academic standards.

A ‘calculated move’

A number of professors facing this test told 8am media that under direct orders from the ministry, the department has already tested 22 professors from Kabul Education University’s Faculty of Islamic Studies. All of those undergoing the test reportedly held positions below associate professor level. The results of the tests have not yet been communicated to the university.

One professor described the exams as a “calculated move” to replace current faculty members with Taliban-affiliated mullahs (clerics). “The Ministry of Higher Education recently issued masters degrees in Islamic Studies to 30,000 madrasa graduates from Pakistan, even though many of these madrasas are unregistered. Only these mullahs [from madrasas] are to be appointed to academic positions,” the professor told 8am.

Professor Fazl Hadi Wazin, a former presidential candidate and vocal critic of Taliban academic policies, publicly lashed out at the decree in a post on X written in Pashto.

“History will record this disgrace: on the orders of a military commander, a group of madrasa-educated mullahs – who have never stepped foot in a university – tested hundreds of Islamic Studies professors with doctorates, masters, associate degrees, associate professorships, and others. It is an insult to the academic community of Afghanistan. It marks the final breath of Afghanistan’s education system,” he wrote.

Professors sacked

The Taliban has already sacked nearly a dozen professors from Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University, a public institution in eastern Kunar Province, for allegedly following the Salafi sect of Islam, which is opposed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, a country that has faced a humanitarian crisis since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

According to academics, these moves are in line with Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada’s grand plan to set up religious seminaries and monasteries all over the country. Akhundzada issued a decree last year mandating each religious seminary to establish dormitories to house 500 to 1,000 students.

The Taliban last year conducted self-styled passing-out ceremonies for more than 50,000 religious affairs graduates at various seminaries. A similar number is set to pass out in March this year.

Taliban Deputy Education Minister Karamatullah Akhundzada last year revealed that at least 1 million new students enrolled in madrasas in 2024 alone. It brings the total number of students exclusively studying religion to 3.6 million at more than 21,000 madrasas in the country.

Changing education landscape

The shift marks a change in the educational landscape in Afghanistan, where madrasas now outnumber the more than 18,000 public and private secondary schools. Before the Taliban takeover in 2021, there were about 5,000 registered madrasas in the country.

Former Bamyan University lecturer Abdul Aziz told University World News these religious students are finding their way into academic ranks under the Taliban. “The Taliban are aiming to indoctrinate the next generations into a society admiring their ideology, so [as a result of] whatever they seem to be preaching, freedom of thought, equality, and curiosity are getting sidelined,” he said.

The Taliban has dismissed professors who had travelled abroad, removing around 50 professors in Balkh, 300 in Herat, and many more from other universities. Professors who obtained scholarships to study abroad were replaced with Taliban-affiliated individuals.

The regime has aggressively revised the curriculum at school and university levels, removing subjects like formal art, civil education, and culture; erasing content about human rights, women’s rights, equal rights, freedoms, elections and democracy; and shaping student behaviour to fit its vision of a closed and hardline society.

Oppression of women and girls

In a directive issued on 8 December, the Taliban Higher Education Ministry ordered female administrative staff at universities to step down and nominate male replacements “within three days”. According to media reports, the directive made it apparent that it was sent by the ministry to universities across the country.

Women have already been barred from most jobs, excluded from secondary and higher education, and prohibited from studying medicine and medical-related degrees.

According to 2024 UNESCO data, 1.4 million Afghan girls have been intentionally denied the opportunity to attend secondary school. Additionally, access to primary education has significantly declined, with 1.1 million fewer children – both girls and boys – enrolled in school.

The Taliban has disregarded all domestic and international calls to allow education for girls.