Unable to attend school since the Taliban took power seven months ago, Afghan teenagers returned to school on Wednesday after the fundamentalist regime announced the opening of high schools for girls.
A few hours after classes resumed, however, the young women were forced to return home, in a sudden political change that caused disappointment and anger among the students.
The Ministry of Education did not provide a clear explanation for having given up on reopening — or postponed the process.
“In Afghanistan, especially in the villages, mentalities are not ready,” said ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmad Rayan. “We have some cultural restrictions, but the Islamic Emirate’s top spokespersons will offer further clarification.”
According to a Taliban source interviewed by AFP, the decision would have been taken after a meeting of senior leaders held on Tuesday night (22) in Kandahar (south), the birthplace of the fundamentalist movement.
At Zarghona High School, one of the largest in Kabul, a teacher entered and ordered the students to return home. Dejected, the students gathered their material, in tears, and left the place.
“I see my students crying and reluctant to leave classes,” said Palwasha, a teacher at the Omra Khan girls’ school in Kabul. “It’s very painful.”
When the Taliban took power in August 2021, schools were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and two months later only boys and girls in elementary school were allowed to return to school.
The Taliban claimed they needed time to ensure that girls aged between 12 and 19 would remain separate from men and that educational centers were run in accordance with Islamic principles.
“We don’t open schools to please the international community or to get recognition from the world,” said Ahmad Rayan. “We do this as part of our responsibility to provide education and educational structures for our students.”
Many students were eager to return to class, despite strict dress codes that required them to cover most of their bodies. “We are already behind in our studies,” complained Raihana Azizi, 17.
Some families, however, were suspicious of the regime and were afraid to allow their daughters to leave or did not see the point in their education in the face of a bleak future for the work of young women.
In seven months in power, the Taliban have imposed several restrictions on women, who have been excluded from public jobs, face controls on their dress and are prevented from traveling alone outside their city. Several women’s rights activists were arrested.
“Why would you and your family make such sacrifices to study if you can never have the career you dream of?” asked Sahar Fetrat, research assistant at Human Rights Watch.
Due to poverty or the conflict that has ravaged the country, Afghan students have missed large amounts of school years. Some continue their studies until the age of 20. The country also faces a shortage of teachers, after many fled alongside tens of thousands of Afghans following the Taliban’s takeover.
The international community considers women’s access to schools a fundamental point in the negotiations for aid and recognition of the Islamist regime, which in its previous term (1996-2001) prohibited education for women.
reactions
“The promise of a return to school for millions of female high school students has been broken in Afghanistan. It’s a huge setback. Access to education is a fundamental right,” UNESCO head Audrey Azoulay said on Twitter. “Unesco reiterates its appeal: women should be allowed to return to school without additional deadlines.”
The United States also condemned the Taliban’s decision. “We join millions of Afghan families today in expressing our deep, deep disappointment and condemnation at the decision not to allow women and girls to return to school after sixth grade,” said State Department spokesman Ned. Price
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that she “shares the deep frustration and disappointment of Afghan students”. She called the authorities’ “inability to honor their commitment” as “deeply damaging” to Afghanistan.
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani Nobel Peace laureate and longtime activist for women’s education, also expressed outrage.
The Taliban “will continue to find excuses to keep girls from learning because they are afraid of educated girls and self-governing women,” he said.
