A 14% Cut That Erased Every Woman: Inside the Taliban’s Academic Purge

The Taliban-controlled Ministry of Higher Education has recently issued an “extremely confidential and urgent” letter to all public universities across the country. The letter states that 14 percent of the ministry’s staffing structure has been reduced. Before Eid al-Fitr, the letter instructs universities to urgently submit a list of the affected personnel to the ministry. According to the confidential letter, which is available to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, universities have been ordered to send the details of their academic and administrative posts—including vacant and redundant positions, job responsibilities, and position titles and codes—verified by the leadership to the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education.

However, sources at public universities say that the majority of the reduced positions are held by female professors. As a result of this directive, these professors will be permanently dismissed from their positions at universities under the Taliban’s rule.

The Taliban-controlled Ministry of Higher Education has undertaken an unprecedented move by reducing 14 percent of its organizational structure. This decision was made under the directive of Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban Supreme Leader. The Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has stated that the decision was made by the Directorate of “Reforms, Structural Review, and Human Resources” within the regime. The letter, described by the Taliban as “extremely confidential and urgent,” instructs all universities to immediately submit their revised staffing structures to the ministry.

Signed by Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education, the letter is titled “Regarding the 14% Reduction in the Ministry of Higher Education’s Workforce.” The letter, numbered 19373 and dated 25/9/1446 Hijri, or March 25, 2025, was issued by the Directorate of “Reforms, Structural Review, and Human Resources.”

According to the letter, this action is based on decree number 5377/717, dated 20/9/1446 Hijri or March 20, 2025, issued by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban Supreme Leader. The decree approves approximately a 14 percent reduction in the academic and civil service staff within the Ministry of Higher Education. The letter obliges university directors to submit details of their academic and administrative positions—considering vacant positions, similar roles, and workload—along with position titles and codes, certified by the leadership stamp, to the ministry by 9/1/1404 Hijri Shamsi, or March 28, 2025.

Simultaneously, the Hasht-e Subh Daily has obtained an audio recording of a Taliban ministry official explaining the directive to university presidents. He states that the Taliban’s Administrative Affairs Directorate gave the ministry five working days to submit a complete report on the 14 percent reduction.

In the audio, spoken in Pashto and translated into Persian in the report, the Taliban official says: “As noted at the top of the letter, it is extremely confidential. Confidentiality must be maintained. Urgency is also emphasized. We were given five working days by the Administrative Affairs Office. Approximately 2,500 positions have been cut at the ministry level, out of a total 9,550 positions.”

The official further states: “The new organizational structure at the ministry has been reduced. Exact reductions per university will be communicated electronically by the Human Resources Department. The Minister has instructed that this task be finalized before Eid. To complete the process, each university must hold a joint administrative and academic council meeting. Guidelines from the Human Resources Department have outlined the number of reduced positions for each university.”

Meanwhile, university sources confirm receiving such a directive and have taken the steps demanded by the Taliban. According to these sources, the cuts have disproportionately affected female faculty and staff.

In response to the question, “Have female professors been collectively dismissed?” the sources confirm that they have been. The collective removal of female professors has effectively eliminated women from the country’s universities, leaving no trace of them in higher education institutions—not even in records.

Additionally, the Taliban’s National Statistics and Information Authority reports that the number of university students in the second quarter of 1403 (Solar Hijri) declined by about 28.6 percent compared to the same period in 1402. According to the report, there were 104,219 students in universities and higher education institutions in the second quarter of 1403, down from 146,042 in the same period in 1402—reflecting a 28.6 percent decrease.

Percentage Comparison of Student Enrollment in Public Universities

Percentage Comparison of Student Enrollment in Private Universities

According to the report, 84,738 students were enrolled in private institutions in the second quarter of 1403, compared to 89,188 in the same period of 1402—marking a 50 percent drop. The report attributes this decline to the exclusion of female students. However, many young people have also left universities out of despair over the country’s future under Taliban rule.

Another contributing factor has been the Taliban’s focus on religious schooling and their ideological transformation of universities. Since taking power, the Taliban have established three new institutions within the Ministry of Higher Education, all supported and trusted by Minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem. He holds regular meetings with these entities and openly expresses appreciation for them. Nadeem has also removed university professors at the request of these institutions and replaced them with clerics from Madrasas.

The newly established Taliban institutions include the Afghanistan International Islamic University, the Hazrat Abdullah bin Masoud Society, and the Hazrat Ibrahim Nakha’i Society. Taliban-affiliated clerics and graduates of their religious schools have been placed in these institutions. After completing short-term programs, these individuals are appointed as university lecturers, advisors, or muftis in Taliban-controlled state institutions.

In the latest case, Minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem attended and spoke at the graduation ceremony for courses titled “Tafsir Sharif” and “Enhancing Academic Levels” organized by the Abdullah bin Masoud Society. He referred to the clerics at this institution as the “leaders of the country’s future,” emphasizing that all of Hibatullah’s orders align with “Islamic Sharia” and benefit the Taliban. Nadeem urged these clerics to obey the senior Taliban leadership and officials.

Previously, the Hasht-e Subh Daily revealed in another investigative report that the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education, in its continued appointment of Taliban-affiliated clerics to academic posts, dismissed 26 professors from the Sharia faculties of Kabul University, Kabul Medical University, Kabul Education University, and Kabul Polytechnic University. These professors were reassigned to administrative roles, and clerics from religious schools were installed in their place. The Taliban Ministry made these changes at the request of the Abdullah bin Masoud Society in Kabul, whose members had sought academic posts at Kabul University.

Before this, acting Minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem stated that testing Taliban members to determine their academic rank was “disrespectful to religious scholars.” He had declared that the “academic rank” of a Taliban “Mujahid” should be based on the number of landmines they had planted.

You can read the Persian version of this investigative report here:

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