University Entrance Exam Winner: “Open Schools and Universities to Girls”

In an interview with the media, Atal Khan Rahimzoi, who won the first place in the national entrance exam of the current year, asked the caretaker government to open schools and universities to Afghan girls and women.

For the third year in a row, girls and women are prohibited from going to schools and universities, and only boys are allowed to participate in the general university entrance exam.

The results of the entrance examination of 2024, which was held in several stages throughout Afghanistan, were announced today by holding a press conference and an official ceremony by the officials of the National Examinations Department.

In this test, Atal Khan Rahimzoi, one of the students of Habibie High School in Kabul, won the first place by scoring 359.61 marks and entered Kabul Medical University. The second place belongs to Sayed Hamed Hashemi from Balkh province, who got 357.71 marks and entered Kabul Medical University, and Shafiullah Nizami from Farah province also got 357.25 marks, while being in the third place, he is eligible to study in Kabul University of Medicine. The fourth and fifth places were assigned to Ershad Ahmad from Laghman province and Safiullah Mohajer from Herat province, respectively, who entered Herat University with 357.15 and 355.92 marks.

Abdul Baqi Haqqani, head of the National Examinations Department, said that 97,184 school graduates from all over the country participated in this year’s exam, of which 41,290 went to higher education institutions, 1,301 went to night colleges, and 2,140 went to Institutions of semi-higher education.

In recent years, the university entrance exam has been held without the presence of girls, as in the years before the caretaker government, girls got the first position at least twice.