Kabul, Feb 10 (IANS): The Taliban government in Afghanistan has urged professors who fled the country after the fall of the former administration in August last year, to return home and resume teaching.

In a statement, the Ministry of Higher Education has promised to provide professors with the same financial and working facilities they used to receive before the Taliban took over the country, reports Khaama Press.

"Development of a country is fully dependent on the educational system, thus the Ministry of higher education of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan urges all the professors of public universities to come back to Afghanistan," the statement said.

The Ministry has also asked other Afghan specialists and experts in exile to come to Afghanistan and occupy the vacant posts of teaching in universities.

A BBC report earlier this month had claimed that a total of 229 professors from the top three universities in Afghanistan have left the country.

The professors were from the Kabul University, Herat University, and Balkh University,.

Among the professors who left, most of them held Masters or/and Ph.D. Degrees.

Public universities in tropical provinces have reopened and those in non-tropical provinces are slated to to open in March end.