59 percent of the candidates for university entrance exams are girls in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat, according to officials at Herat University.

This comes a day after 13,000 candidates appeared for university entrance exam in the province.

“This year we accept 567 students from the Kankor (university entrance exam) and another 1,000 who compete through special exams and for their masters degree,” said Abdullah Fayez, the rector of Herat University.

This year the university entrance exam was started after delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The university entrance exam in Herat will be conducted in three phases.

The Afghan Ministry of Higher Education has said that this year 125,000 students will appear for the university entrance exam across the country to make their way to universities, other higher educational institutions and semi-higher education.

Meanwhile, a number of candidates have criticized the government for not considering special measures for the disabled students.

“There are no restrictions for the disabled people, there is no restriction within a human being, we can all go and learn,” said Najib Tawangar, a student in Herat.

“The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the exam but despite that we managed to appear in a good way,” said Ehsanullah Asemi, a student in Herat.

All schools and universities remained closed in Afghanistan for five months because of the pandemic.

Last week, the Afghan government ordered the reopening of the schools under special health guidelines.