January 22, 2003	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 18, 1423

KABUL, Jan 21: Afghanistan’s chief justice on Tuesday termed co-education un-Islamic, casting a further shadow over the country’s already battered schooling system.

Supreme Court judge Mawlawi Fazel Hadi Shinwari made his comments following moves by a powerful Afghan provincial governor to restrict education for women despite international pressure for equality in the classroom.

“According to Islam and Shariat, co-education is haram for boys and girls when they become adult,” he said.

Although it is rare for male and female youths to share the classroom, co-education is common in Afghanistan’s universities.

The judge said Herat governor Ismail Khan’s reported moves to pull male teachers out of girls’ schools was overstepping the mark.

“A male teacher, if he’s an honest Muslim can teach women, that’s not a problem,” he said.

In an earlier interview with the private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press, Shinwari rejected complaints by human rights groups against Khan’s moves.

Women have only just returned to the classroom in Afghanistan following the five-year rule of the Taliban.

Shinwari also disclosed plans to establish a permanent shura of 64 religious scholars.—AFP