Taliban to open high schools for girls next week

Published March 18, 2022
Students attend their graduation ceremony at Benawa University on Thursday. —AFP
Students attend their graduation ceremony at Benawa University on Thursday. —AFP

KABUL: The Taliban will allow girls around Afghanistan to return to class when high schools open next week, an education official said on Thursday, after months of uncertainty over whether the group would allow full access to education for girls and women.

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

“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.

“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 hardline Islamist movement since it toppled the Western-backed government last August.

Most countries have so far refused to formally recognise the Taliban, amid concerns over their treatment of girls and women and allegations of human rights abuses against former soldiers and officials from the ousted administration. The Taliban have vowed to investigate alleged abuses, and say they are not seeking revenge on their former enemies.

The last time the group ruled Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001, they banned female education and most employment. Since regaining power, boys and men have returned to education in far greater number than girls and women.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

Kurram atrocity
Updated 22 Nov, 2024

Kurram atrocity

It would be a monumental mistake for the state to continue ignoring the violence in Kurram.
Persistent grip
22 Nov, 2024

Persistent grip

PAKISTAN has now registered 50 polio cases this year. We all saw it coming and yet there was nothing we could do to...
Green transport
22 Nov, 2024

Green transport

THE government has taken a commendable step by announcing a New Energy Vehicle policy aiming to ensure that by 2030,...
Military option
Updated 21 Nov, 2024

Military option

While restoring peace is essential, addressing Balochistan’s socioeconomic deprivation is equally important.
HIV/AIDS disaster
21 Nov, 2024

HIV/AIDS disaster

A TORTUROUS sense of déjà vu is attached to the latest health fiasco at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital. The largest...
Dubious pardon
21 Nov, 2024

Dubious pardon

IT is disturbing how a crime as grave as custodial death has culminated in an out-of-court ‘settlement’. The...