Taliban Bars Girls From Kankor for Third Consecutive Year

DID Press: Taliban has again excluded Afghan girls from the country’s university entrance examination, as registration for the 1406 general Kankor and religious-school entrance exams gets underway.

Registration for the 1406 Kankor examinations has opened, with eligible applicants given until 30 Qaws to complete the process, according to Afghanistan’s National Examination Authority. Recent reports confirm that girls remain excluded from the examination under the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s access to higher education.

The Kankor is Afghanistan’s main pathway for admission to universities and other higher education institutions. The continued exclusion of girls means they are being denied this pathway for a third consecutive year. The United Nations has also documented that female students were excluded from the Kankor in 2025.

The restriction comes amid the Taliban’s broader ban on girls’ education beyond sixth grade and women’s access to universities. UNICEF said in August 2026 that more than 2.6 million Afghan girls had been denied secondary education since 2021, while Afghanistan remains the only country where secondary and higher education is effectively closed to girls and women.

The Taliban’s National Examination Authority has urged eligible applicants to complete registration within the designated period and prepare for the examination. The continued exclusion of girls has raised further concerns about the future of women’s and girls’ education and access to higher education in Afghanistan.