Taliban orders schools not to accept female students after cases of noncompliance

The Taliban government in Afghanistan on Tuesday ordered schools against admitting girls beyond sixth grade, complying with the ban on female education, after several cases of noncompliance by education centers came to light.

“Based on the Schools and educational centers leadership decision, females from 7 to 12 grade are suspended” until further notice, read the directive by the Ministry of Education to schools in Kabul, which was accessed by EFE.

It further demanded that the heads of all the educational institutions sign a document committing to comply with this directive.

While the ban on higher education for girls has been in place since the Taliban came to power in August 2021, several schools still continued to admit female students over that permitted age into their classrooms, the director of an institute told EFE requesting anonymity.

“We received the commitment letter for not admitting girls above sixth grade,” Haseebullah Malyar, the director of Ekhlas Naween Education Center Institute in Kabul, told EFE.

Shortly after returning to power following the US pullout from Afghanistan, the Taliban banned women from secondary and higher education, followed by a string of restrictions that progressively restricted them from public life.

Initially, many girls continued to attend schools that offered specific courses for them, but soon, these were also banned by the Taliban.

“Whatever there is for women and girls has been banned by the Taliban government, (…) we are living in a graveyard for girls and women,” Nazo, 16 -year-old girl, told EFE.

So far, the Taliban government has not officially commented on the letter sent to schools. EFE

Source » efe