Women training as midwives and nurses in Afghanistan have told the BBC they have been ordered not to return to class in the morning, closing their last route to further education in the country.
Five separate institutions across Afghanistan also confirmed to the BBC that the Taliban had ordered them to close until further notice, with videos shared online showing students crying at the news.
The BBC has not yet officially confirmed this order with the Taliban government's health ministry.
However, the closure appears to be in line with the group's broader women's education policy, which has prevented teenage girls from accessing secondary and tertiary education since August 2021.
The Taliban have repeatedly promised that they will be readmitted to the school once a number of issues are resolved, including ensuring that the school curriculum will be “Islamic.”
This hasn't happened yet.
One of the few options still open to women wishing to study was the country's colleges of higher education, where they could learn to become nurses or midwives.
Midwifery and nursing are also one of the only careers women can pursue due to restrictions placed on women by the Taliban government – a vital career, as male doctors are not allowed to caring for women without the presence of a male guardian.
Just three months ago, the BBC gained access to a midwifery training center run by the Taliban, where more than a dozen women in their 20s were learning how to give birth.
The women were happy to have had the chance to learn.
“My family is very proud of me,” said Safia, an intern. “I left my children at home to come here, but they know I serve the country.”
But even then, some women expressed fear over whether it could eventually be stopped.
It's unclear what will happen to these women – and the 17,000 other women taking training courses.
No official announcement has been made, although two sources within the health ministry unofficially confirmed the ban to BBC Afghan.
In videos sent to the BBC by other training schools, trainees can be heard crying.
“Staying here and crying doesn’t do any good,” one student tells a group of women in a video. “The Vice and Virtue officials (who enforce Taliban rules) are nearby, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you.”
Other videos shared with the BBC show women quietly protesting as they leave colleges – chanting as they make their way through the corridors.
A student from Kabul said she was told to “wait until further notice”.
“Even though it is the end of our semester, the exams have not yet taken place and we have not received permission to take them,” she told the BBC.
Another student revealed that they “only had time to collect our bags and leave the classrooms.”
“They even told us not to stay in the courtyard because the Taliban could come at any time and something could happen. Everyone was terrified,” she said. “For many of us, taking classes was a small glimmer of hope after long periods of unemployment, depression and isolation at home.”
What this means for women's health care remains to be seen: Last year, the United Nations said Afghanistan needed 18,000 more midwives to meet the country's needs.
Afghanistan already has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with a report released last year indicating that 620 women were dying for every 100,000 live births.
Additional reporting from BBC Afghan
