The Taliban has banned women in Afghanistan from receiving virtually any form of higher education.

An order issued last week reportedly outlaws any schooling for women and girls beyond the sixth grade, according to NPR.

“You are all informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending the education of females until further notice,” instructed the minister for higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, in a letter sent to both government and private universities.

A spokesperson for the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education confirmed the suspension on Tuesday.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the United States condemns “the Taliban’s indefensible decision to ban women from universities.”

Price said the move would result in “significant consequences for the Taliban and will further alienate the Taliban from the international community and deny them the legitimacy they desire.”

“With the implementation of this decree, half of the Afghan population will soon be unable to access education beyond primary school,” Price added.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood asserted during a United Nations Security Council briefing that the “Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until they respect the rights of all Afghans, especially the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls.”

Nadeem defended the suspension on Thursday, saying that certain aspects of higher education as it was being conducted went against Islamic and Afghan values. He added that female students failed to observe the required dress code and restrict their studies to specified subjects and courses.

“We told girls to have proper hijab but they didn’t and they wore dresses like they are going to a wedding ceremony,” he said. “Girls were studying agriculture and engineering, but this didn’t match Afghan culture. Girls should learn, but not in areas that go against Islam and Afghan honor.”

Nadeem claimed that efforts are being made to address these issues and that schools will reopen for women and girls once they are resolved.