Girls deprived of education fear continued school closures; “The world should not forget this issue”

A Kabul woman who asked not to be named said she feared Afghanistan’s ban on girls’ education might be forgotten.

He told Radio Azadi that he was in grade 11 when he was barred from attending school and now did not believe he had a bright future.

“The issue of girls’ education is increasingly forgotten, the world is no longer paying attention to us, and in Afghanistan everyone accepts the idea that only men should study.”

Nearly 990 days have passed since the Taliban government closed schools above grade 6, and 525 days have passed since the Taliban government closed girls’ colleges.

After the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, they banned girls from receiving education above grade 6, and then in December 2022, they closed the doors of university to them.

In another week, Kabul will once again hold matriculation or university entrance exams without girls taking them.

A female student living in Kabul who was denied the opportunity of higher education and did not want her name to appear in the report told Radio Azadi: “Unfortunately, the issue of women’s education in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly neglected and is being forgotten. It is unfortunate that the issue of women’s education is being ignored by the world and the Afghan nation is being forgotten.

But some education rights activists say the issue of girls’ education is a fundamental and haunting one.

One of them, Fazl El Hadi Wezin, told Radio Azadi: “Afghan people are hungry for knowledge, so I think banning girls’ schools will not become normal for people and people will forget that their girls stay at home, this is a memorable case.”

There are concerns that Afghanistan might forget about these bans, and recently, UN Secretary-General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a press conference that the organization will continue to ensure the rights of girls and women who are being deprived of the Taliban and are exerting pressure.

Previously, international organizations and officials from various countries have repeatedly mentioned the issues of education and work rights of Afghan girls and women, and called on the Taliban government to lift these restrictions.

But nearly three years later, the Taliban government has still not lifted those restrictions and continues to claim that women’s rights are protected within the framework of Afghanistan’s Islamic law.