Afghanistan's school year starts without over 1 million girls barred from education by Taliban
The Taliban's education ministry marked the beginning of the new academic year with a ceremony barring female journalists.
Press Trust of India | March 20, 2024 | 03:36 PM IST
ISLAMABAD : The school year in Afghanistan started Wednesday but without girls whom the Taliban barred from attending classes beyond the sixth grade, making it the only country with restrictions on female education. The U.N. children's agency says more than 1 million girls are affected by the ban. It also estimates 5 million were out of school before the Taliban takeover due to a lack of facilities and other reasons.
The Taliban's education ministry marked the start of the new academic year with a ceremony that female journalists were not allowed to attend. The invitations sent out to reporters said: “Due to the lack of a suitable place for the sisters, we apologize to female reporters.” During a ceremony, the Taliban's education minister, Habibullah Agha, said that the ministry is trying “to increase the quality of education of religious and modern sciences as much as possible.”
Also read 'Crime against children': NCPCR writes to NIOS over Jamiat Open School being run for Classes 3, 5, 8
The Taliban have been prioritizing Islamic knowledge over basic literacy and numeracy with their shift toward madrassas, or religious schools. The minister also called on students to avoid wearing clothes that contradict Islamic and Afghan principles. Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban's deputy prime minister, said they were trying to expand education in “all remote areas in the country.”
Talibani ban on girls' education
The Taliban previously said girls continuing their education went against their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, and that certain conditions were needed for their return to school. However, they made no progress in creating said conditions. When they ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, they also banned girls' education. Despite initially promising a more moderate rule, the group has also barred women from higher education, public spaces like parks, and most jobs as part of harsh measures imposed after they took over following the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from the country in 2021.
The ban on girls' education remains the Taliban's biggest obstacle to gaining recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan. Although Afghan boys have access to education, Human Rights Watch has criticized the Taliban, saying their “abusive” educational policies are harming boys as well as girls. The group, in a report published in December, said there has been less attention to the deep harm inflicted on boys' education as qualified teachers — including women — left, and inclusion of regressive curriculum changes as well as an increase in corporal punishment have led to falling attendance.
Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..
To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.
Next Story
]Featured News
]- Canada to cut international student permits by 10% in 2025; brings new language norms
- Kanpur: A year after Yogi Adityanath’s school mergers, many pushed out of mainstream education
- Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: Reservation policy a major issue for youth, first-time voters
- CBSE-transition deferred based on feedback, mass failure in test: Andhra Pradesh Government
- Mothers cook, doctors are male: Southern textbooks more sexist than NCERT, ‘Hindi-belt’ ones, says study
- No full-time Delhi DoE director since last year, educational reforms, teachers’ transfers stalled
- NMC revises CBME guidelines for MBBS curriculum; drops reference to gay sex as ‘unnatural’
- AIIMS Gorakhpur Controversy: Head of surgery accuses executive director of forging son’s OBC certificate
- IIT Guwahati student death: Dean resigns; admin allows failed students to join placements, internships
- 75% attendance rule, backlogs reasons for IIT Guwahati student death, classmates call out instructor