Afghan women and schoolgirls are paying the price of regime change with their basic rights of access to education and civil services.
It has been eight months that the education doors to girls above grade six have been closed by Taliban rebels on the basis of vague religious arguments.
“Measurable numbers of female teachers and girls have been dropped out of school given the strict dress code being imposed by the Taliban rebels.” Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised concerns in its recent report.
The Taliban is imposing increasingly strict dress codes on both students and teachers by expelling students, firing teachers and even closing down the entire school, according to Heather Barr, Associate Women’s Rights Director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). But the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Education said it is ready to open girls’ schools above the sixth grade if the leadership orders. Earlier, the Taliban has justified the closure of girls’ schools, saying that the girls’ dress codes would be changed “in accordance with Afghan law, customs and culture.” So far, the group has not made a decision on reopening girls’ schools. Civil society activists say the Taliban are seeking to exclude women from society, politics and education.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Taliban practically banned girls from education after taking control of Afghanistan. In response to world reactions and pressure, the rebels promised to reopen the education doors to girls in spring of year 1401 (the beginning of education year in Afghanistan), but in the very last minute, the rebels stepped back from their promise.
Arguing the school dress code of girls, the rebels announced that education doors to girls above sixth grade will remain close till further notice as the dress code of the girls is not accordingly to the values of Islam and Afghan customs.
HRW has received a voice message from a teacher in which Taliban virtue promoters call on the school administration to fire a teacher for not wearing the Taliban outfits. To closely monitor the rule implementation, the Taliban have also deployed virtue promoters at schools.
A teacher told Human Rights Watch: “Restrictions on Hejab is turning to be difficult day by day. “They have spies to record and report. If students or teachers do not follow the strict rules of the Taliban, they will fire teachers and ban students without any arguments.”
Human Rights Watch has published a photo of students and teachers wearing uniforms that completely cover the body from head to feet.
A student reportedly said she is not allowed to wear a belt, and that the Taliban had asked her to wear long-sleeved clothes that should cover all the body parts, including the hands, but she is still being chased out by the Taliban rebels. She added. Because when writing on the board, the sleeves are turned back and her hands and arms get exposed.
In the latest case, the Taliban have ordered girls in schools to wear loose-fitting clothes with loose sleeves and pin them around their wrists.
“All the girls in our school believe that the Taliban wants to drop us out of school and close the school doors to us by imposing such strict rules,” said a student. She also said that she and all her classmates are determined not to allow the Taliban to win the match.
Arefa Fatemi, a civil activist, says the strict hijab and the closure of schools by the Taliban is not unexpected, and that women do not have a place in the group’s worldview. According to Ms. Fatemi, the Taliban seek to exclude women from society and therefore ban education and do not allow women to work. She believes that the ultimate goal of the Taliban is to exclude women from politics, economics, education and work. The civil activist further declares that Taliban have fought for 20 years against all the human societies’ values and now if they respect the human societies’’ values, it means they have are doing against their Jihad motives.
Regarding the compulsory hijab, the civil activist says that the Taliban use various methods to put more pressures on students and teachers. According to Arefa Fatemi, the Taliban have turned many female teachers from remote schools into remote areas, forcing them to leave their jobs. The social activist believes that the Taliban will not be willing to accept the presence of women in politics and society under any circumstances. Arefa Fatemi says that even if the Taliban are willing to open girls’ schools under pressure from Afghan citizens and the international community, it is still a “political” and “tactical” move, but they have difficulty getting girls to go to school.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Education announced the reopening of schools on September 17, a month and two days after taking control of Kabul, but kept girls’ schools closed. Since then, doubts have begun about the Taliban’s view of schools. The Taliban then allowed girls below the sixth grade to go to school, but have so far kept girls’ schools above the sixth grade closed.
The Taliban’s attempt to close girls’ schools above the sixth grade met with widespread reactions in national and international arenas. The most outspoken reaction came from the World Bank, which stopped funding four projects worth $600 million in agriculture, livelihood and education. The United States has suspended talks with the Taliban. The international community has made continued aid to Afghanistan conditional on opening schools for all girls. Although the international response has been sharp, there has been little response from neighboring countries and the region.
[highlight color=”gray”]Hasht-e Subh Persian[/highlight]