The Taliban have deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of access to school, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Thursday. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where women are barred from secondary and higher education.
Since coming to power in 2021, the Taliban have banned education for girls beyond the sixth grade, which they say does not comply with their interpretation of Sharia law. There is no indication that they are ready to reopen classrooms and campuses for girls and women.
At least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since the takeover, according to UNESCO. That's 300,000 more than an April 2023 estimate, the Associated Press reported.
“Adding to that the number of girls who were already out of school before the bans were imposed, there are nearly 2.5 million girls who are deprived of an education in the country, representing 80 percent of Afghan school-age girls,” UNESCO said.
The Taliban did not respond to AP's request for comment.
Access to primary education has also declined since the Taliban came to power in August 2021. The number of children, boys and girls, attending school has fallen by 1.1 million, according to UNESCO. At the time, UNESCO and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) urged the Taliban not to exclude women and girls from school and to allow women to pursue higher education.
The UN agency warned that authorities had “virtually reversed” two decades of steady progress in education in Afghanistan.
“The future of an entire generation is at risk,” added UNESCO.
Decades of conflict and instability have left millions of Afghans on the brink of starvation and high unemployment.
The Taliban is among the organizations the UN names as causing harm to children. The US has designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization.
Prepared by: Sergey Daga