Taliban Keep Schools and Universities Closed to Girls as New Academic Year Begins

The new academic year in Afghanistan has begun after the Eid holidays, but the Taliban have kept the gates of schools and universities closed to girls for the fourth consecutive year.

Girls who graduated from sixth grade may also be deprived of continuing their education. Affected students expressed that the closures have turned their Eid joy into sorrow. Families share similar distress, with one Kabul resident stating: "Eid came, my daughter is crying and wailing, I myself am wailing, I say my child, Eid has no meaning for me and you because you are deprived of school, like you all girls are deprived of school, I am a mother, I am very distressed."

Human rights researcher Abdul Ahad Farzam stated that the continuation of depriving girls of education causes economic dependency, intensifies poverty among families and citizens, and hinders Afghanistan's development and progress in the future.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports that Afghanistan's education system faces unprecedented challenges and the Taliban's restrictive policies have reversed two decades of progress. The report indicates that more than 90 percent of 10-year-old children are unable to read a simple text, marking one of the world's most severe learning crises.

According to UNICEF statistics, more than 2.2 million girls have been deprived of school due to the Taliban's restrictions.