Afghanistan: Female students urge Taliban to open schools yet again
May 10, 2023
Kabul [Afghanistan], May 10 : Female students in Afghanistan have urged the Taliban once again to let them attend schools as schools above grade 6 in Afghanistan have been closed for females for over 20 months now, TOLOnews reported.
Till now, there has been no word on when the girls will be able to attend school and study next.
Lamenting her plight, Nazita, a student in 12th grade told TOLOnews, "We need to come here and study our lessons because schools are closed. We will fall behind in our lessons if we don't study, we must study. We are now still far behind in our courses."
Afghan girls have repeatedly expressed concern and unhappiness over the ban on schooling in the country by the de-facto authorities.
Taliban has stated that the closure of female schools is only temporary, although no precise timetable for reopening has been given.
"It's been 600 days since we attended school. Why don't you open the doors of schools to us? what is the problem? Learning is our right. Men and women are two wings of one society," said another student, Sara.
"Let us learn, getting an education is our right," Nadia, another Afghan student said.
Afghan girls have repeatedly called on the Taliban to immediately open schools and universities for them, however, there is no development on the situation of females' right to education in the country hit by economic and humanitarian crisis.
Since the Taliban regained power in August 2021 after the US exit from the country, women are not allowed to work in the fields of education with domestic and international organisations, in gyms, or in public spaces.
Taliban has rolled back a wide range of human rights of women and girls, including a ban on attending high school and university, restrictions on movement and work, and in December, a decree banning female nationals from working in most NGOs.
Facing decades-long conflict, Afghanistan grapples with numerous challenges including a food shortage as foreign governments are cutting development funding and imposing sanctions, in large part due to the Taliban's restrictions on women.
