Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education announced the new school year will start Wednesday and that all students should return to class.

The ministry said a ceremony to mark the occasion will also be held on Wednesday. High-ranking officials will attend, a ministerial statement read.

According to the statement, all schools, colleges and other educational institutions will reopen on Wednesday.

The ministry urged students and teachers to adhere to dress codes.

“All teachers and students of schools, colleges and educational institutions consider clothing and uniforms in accordance with religious and national standards,”the statement read.

The Ministry of Education has also instructed all teachers to make the necessary preparations, taking into account their responsibilities and competencies, and to provide appropriate educational conditions and environments for students.

The ministry did not issue any further details – especially regarding the issue of teenage girls.

However, last week Reuters reported that the IEA will allow girls to return to class when high schools reopen.

“All schools are going to open to all boys and girls,” Aziz Ahmad Rayan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education, told Reuters.

“But there are some conditions for girls,” he said, adding that female students would be taught separately from males and only by female teachers.

In some rural areas where there was a shortage of female teachers, he said that older male teachers would be allowed to teach girls, Reuters reported.

“There is no school that will close for this year. If there is any school that closes, it is the responsibility of the education ministry to open it,” Rayan added.

Allowing girls and women into schools and colleges has been one of the key demands the international community has made of the IEA since it toppled the Western-backed government in Afghanistan.