The United States Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reports that U.S. educational assistance indirectly benefits the Taliban. According to SIGAR, the Taliban’s education policies have reduced students’ interest in school enrollment, resulting in over a 10% decline in student enrollment. SIGAR’s findings indicate that the Taliban have failed to pay teachers’ salaries, causing many educators to leave schools due to the replacement of modern subjects with Taliban ideological ones. The report also discloses a significant drop in the number of participants in educational programs at private universities under Taliban control, with reductions ranging from 50% to 90%.
The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has uncovered that the Taliban indirectly access U.S. educational assistance, generating tax revenues for the group. The report highlights the taxation of the income of employees of U.S.-funded educational programs and the tax revenue generated from the sale of American aid items by the Taliban.
SIGAR added in this report that funding for education comes from non-governmental organizations and the creation of fake Taliban organizations to receive aid is carried out through the infiltration and coercion of these groups in non-governmental organizations. The report quotes a non-governmental organizational official who stated that the Taliban target organizations and extorts them. Non-governmental organizations have told SIGAR that the Taliban forced them to hire members of this group or purchase goods from companies owned by the Taliban.
SIGAR’s report states that the Taliban’s control over Afghanistan has led to a decline in girls’ attendance in primary schools and more than a 10% decrease in boys’ attendance in eight provinces. The report also highlights the Taliban’s failure to fulfill their promises of improving the educational system and meeting schools’ needs.
SIGAR emphasizes that the Taliban have been unsuccessful in providing teachers’ salaries and educational expenses. In a research report from June 1st to July 30th, 2022, covering 122 schools, SIGAR found that 9% of these schools lack chairs, 26% are deprived of access to electricity, and 31% lack potable water. The US Inspector General has warned that if the Taliban continue to undermine the educational system and deprive the young generation of education, the country will face a new crisis.
According to the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, it is mentioned that the Taliban’s educational policies have led to a decrease in student enrollment in schools. SIGAR adds that the Taliban’s restrictions against female teachers are another factor contributing to the decline in student registrations. The report indicates that gender segregation and the lack of employment opportunities for female teachers have resulted in a shortage of qualified educators in schools.
The report also reveals a significant decline in student registrations at some universities, ranging from 50% to 90%. One private university reported an immediate 50% drop in student enrollments when the Taliban took control on August 15, 2021, while another private university confirmed a substantial 90% reduction in student registrations for their institution.
In this report, the U.S. Special Inspectorate emphasizes that the worsening economic conditions have compelled numerous families to prevent their children from attending school. The report details that these children kept out of school, are now engaged in laborious work, and in some cases, families have turned to marrying their underage daughters as a means of supporting their living expenses.
As per SIGAR’s report, the deterioration in educational quality, and the replacement of modern subjects with a Taliban-influenced curriculum instead of a contemporary educational system, has resulted in numerous teachers exiting their profession and a considerable exodus of rural students from schools.
In its 2023 report, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had previously stated that 48% of eligible children in Afghanistan were attending primary schools. However, this figure has now dropped to 42% due to Taliban-imposed restrictions.
SIGAR has raised concerns about the proliferation of religious schools. The report underscores that without modern education that prioritizes technology, science, literacy, and numeracy, students are losing the essential skills for earning a sustainable income, and Afghanistan is losing a qualified workforce for economic growth.
In a section of the 37-page report, SIGAR, referring to non-governmental organizations active in the education sector, asserts that the Taliban persist in attempting to redirect foreign aid through coercion, corruption, and infiltration of non-governmental organizations.
The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has stated, “We have determined that the Taliban’s influence over education in Afghanistan should not be underestimated. This severely restricts children’s access to education. The Taliban’s repressive educational policies, particularly those aimed at girls and women, are being strictly implemented.”
SIGAR has expressed concerns regarding the Taliban’s access to U.S. assistance, in light of earlier reports by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, which indicated that officials from this group in Ghor Province had appropriated and utilized humanitarian aid to their benefit.
The United States Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has previously reported that the Taliban interfered 494 times in the activities of humanitarian organizations. According to this agency, in 2022, the Taliban conducted 30 attacks on healthcare workers and 362 incidents of violence and threats against personnel, assets, and humanitarian facilities. Furthermore, a report from this organization indicates that due to the Taliban’s access to humanitarian aid, both malnourished children and flourishing Taliban have emerged.
It’s important to highlight that the Taliban’s access to and interference with humanitarian aid is a major concern aligned with advancing the ideological objectives of this group. Earlier, certain countries providing humanitarian aid to Afghanistan expressed worries about the Taliban’s reach for this assistance.
SIGAR has consistently stressed the need to document the Taliban’s involvement in the distribution of humanitarian aid. Moreover, the White House has previously declared that, because of the Taliban’s meddling in humanitarian affairs, the country halted its aid in certain provinces, including Ghazni and Ghor.
SIGAR also noted that, despite concerns raised by U.S. lawmakers regarding the Taliban’s ability to access humanitarian aid, the United States has supplied Afghanistan with more than $2.35 billion during the past two years while the Taliban have been in control.
The Taliban have not responded to this issue, but reliable sources within non-governmental and international organizations had previously disclosed the Taliban’s involvement and pressure to the Hasht-e Subh Daily. An official in non-governmental organizations had affirmed that the Taliban sought projects for organizations aligned with them.
