The National Examination Authority (NEXA) said that only male students can attend the university entrance examination this year.

NEXA said on Twitter that the decision was made by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) and sent in a letter to the authority.

“A letter arrived from the Ministry of Higher Education saying that only male students should be recruited. So, this is the responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education to decide who should be giving tests and who should not. NEXA has no responsibility for this,” the authority said.

Women said that their removal from the society will have a negative impacts on society.

“Unfortunately, the interim government has failed in this regard and has not been able to reopen the doors of the schools and universities for the girls,” said Suraya Paikan, a women’s rights activist.

Female students meanwhile called on the interim government to allow them to attend classes.

“We should not be forced to migrate from Afghanistan because of lack of access to education,” said Sahar, a student.

“We call on the Islamic Emirate to respect us as humans, as girls, and reopen the doors of the schools and allow us take university entrance examinations,” said Kubra, a student.

This comes as some of the male students also called for the attendance of girls in the university entrance exam of 1402 solar year.

“We call on the Islamic Emirate to provide educational opportunities to females, as the girls also have the right to education,” said Elham, a student.

Meanwhile, the US special envoy for Afghan women and human rights, Rina Amiri, said on Twitter: "Stand with Afghan girls’ demand to be allowed to take university exams. Their success will be Afghanistan’s success, leading to food on the table, an improved economy & future. The Taliban should put the country and people before their ideology.“

The National Examination Authority stressed that the questions of the examinations have been provided based on the current curriculum.

According to the NEXA, the examinations will be held in five rounds. The first round will be held in 11 provinces, the second round in 12 provinces, the third round in 10 provinces, and the fourth round will be held in Kabul. The fifth round will include the students who missed or failed the previous tests.