Taliban Begins New Academic Year Without Girls for Fifth Consecutive Year

The 1405 academic year officially began across Afghanistan on 6 Hamal with a ceremony in Kabul attended by Taliban Ministry of Education officials and other leaders.

The ministry said the academic year started in a safe environment and outlined programs to deliver healthy, quality and balanced education. These include reactivating hundreds of inactive schools, establishing 426 night schools in all 34 provinces, holding teacher training seminars, repairing educational buildings and facilitating private educational centers.

The ministry statement made no reference to reopening secondary schools for girls above sixth grade, a ban imposed on the second of Hamal 1401 that has left millions of girls deprived of education.

Afghanistan International, Hasht-e Subh and Khaama Press reported that the restriction has continued for a fifth consecutive year despite widespread domestic and international criticism, including tensions within the Taliban. Hasht-e Subh cited a UNICEF report that more than 2.2 million teenage girls have been deprived of schooling due to the ban.

Khaama Press reported renewed calls to lift the restrictions from UNICEF regional director Sanjay Wijesekera, former President Hamid Karzai and UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett. The officials warned that the policy harms Afghanistan's stability, progress and development.

Pajhwok reported separately on the ministry's commitments to quality education, including a new curriculum for grades one to six, the repair of 800 schools last year and the establishment of the Imam Abu Yusuf Model High School. Senior officials urged families to send their children to school.