Afghan varsities reopen with male, female students divided by curtains

Brain drain concern

On Monday, there was a strikingly low turnout at Kabul's universities, with education leaders fearing many more of the nation's young and talented people have fled the country.

Noor Ali Rahmani, director of Gharjistan University in Kabul, estimated up to 30 percent of the students left Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control in the middle of August.

Rahmani told AFP that only 10 to 20 percent of the 1,000 students who enrolled last year came to Gharjistan University on Monday, although there were no classes scheduled.

Several teachers said there was uncertainty over what rules would be imposed under the Taliban, who have yet to form a government.

Sher Azam, a 37-year-old teacher at a private university in Kabul, said he was worried about how many students would come back, given the economic crisis the recent turmoil has triggered.

"I don't know how many students will return to school, because there are financial problems and some students are coming from families who have lost their jobs," he told Reuters.

For 28-year-old computer science student Amir Hussein, "everything changed completely" after the Taliban takeover, he said.

"Many students are not interested anymore in studying because they don't know what their future will be," he said.

Reuters and AFP contributed to this story.