Several residents of Giyawa Valley in Kapisa province say that since the Taliban’s return to power, their children have been denied the right to education in their mother tongue. They add that instead of hiring Pashayi-speaking teachers, the Taliban have appointed Pashto-speaking teachers at the only school in the valley, a decision that has disrupted the education process. According to residents, most students do not understand Pashto, and this has discouraged them from attending school. The lack of qualified teachers and a shortage of educational materials are among the other challenges students in this area face.
Some residents of the valley told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that due to ethnic bias, the Taliban refuse to employ educated local youth. They said the Taliban have moved the high school of the valley to Nijrab district, a predominantly Pashtun area, which has caused many young people to abandon their education. Residents also report that because there are no female teachers in girls’ schools below grade six, many families have stopped sending their daughters to school.
Bismillah (pseudonym), one of the residents of Giyawa Valley, said that children in the area have the right to study in their mother tongue, but this right has now been taken away. He added that if this situation continues, it will seriously damage the educational future of the valley’s children.
Bismillah said, “We all speak Pashayi, but all the teachers hired by the education department in this district are Pashtuns. The students, despite all their enthusiasm and motivation, cannot study because they don’t understand even a single sentence in Pashto.”
This resident of Giyawa Valley added, “This situation has had a terrible effect on the students. Our children say, ‘We don’t understand Pashto, so how can we learn?’ Since the fall of the republic, children’s motivation for studying has vanished, and as a result, some families no longer allow their children to attend school.”
Nauman (pseudonym), another resident of Giyawa Valley, said that the lack of textbooks, shortage of teachers, and irregular teaching schedules have caused serious problems in the valley’s only school. He added that the Taliban pay no attention to the educational situation in the area because its residents are an ethnic minority and because of their role in the former republic.
Nauman said: “We built this school with our own money, but the Taliban neither pay attention to it nor have the capacity to help. Sometimes people from abroad provide books and materials, but we have received no official assistance. The number of teachers has decreased while the number of students has increased.”
Ehsanullah (pseudonym), another resident of Giyawa Valley, called for the recruitment of Pashayi-speaking teachers for the valley’s school. He said, “Our children need Pashayi-speaking teachers because they are very motivated to learn. When I asked some of them what they wanted to become in the future, each had a dream. One said, ‘I want to be a doctor to serve my people,’ and another said, ‘I want to be an engineer to bring electricity and roads to our valley.’ Every child has a dream.”
Shamsuddin (pseudonym) said that during the republic, the valley had a high school, but the Taliban have now moved it to a Pashtun-populated area about three hours away. He criticized ethnic discrimination and added that to be hired as a teacher, one must be a Pashtun.
This resident of Giyawa Valley added, “This school has now been downgraded to a middle school. The high school was moved to another valley in Nijrab district, which is mostly Pashtun-populated. As a result, after finishing middle school, young people here must either stop their education or walk about three hours to attend high school in the district center. The middle school currently has about 225 students, and after completing their classes, they either have to quit studying or travel a long distance to continue.”
Behrooz (pseudonym), a university graduate from Kapisa, said that he wanted to teach children in his area, but the Taliban have denied him the opportunity due to ethnic prejudice. He added: “I graduated from Kapisa University and have applied for a teaching job several times, but the doors are always closed to me, while Pashtuns are easily hired. I eventually lost hope and now work on the farm with my father. Our language is part of our identity, something the Taliban not only disregard but are trying to erase by keeping us away from education. This is the right of the children in this area.”
Behrooz urged the international community to pressure the Taliban not to deprive the children of Giyawa Valley of their right to education in their mother tongue and to ensure they can access their educational rights.
Meanwhile, several education activists say that depriving Pashayi children of their right to study in their mother tongue amounts to a form of systematic discrimination. They add that this policy not only limits equal access to education but also undermines the linguistic and cultural identity of these children.
Aziz ur Rahman Sakhizada said: “The Pashayi people of Afghanistan have the right to study in their mother tongue, and there is no acceptable excuse to deny them this right. Claims about a lack of teachers or educational materials in the mother tongue are nothing but excuses, clear signs of an unequal, coercive, and authoritarian system. The Pashayi people have long been part of this land, with their own geography and undeniable existence.”
Abdullah Ahmadi, an education rights activist, added: “Under Taliban rule, not only the Pashayi but all the people are deprived of their fundamental rights. Human rights activists must document such cases of discrimination, and the United Nations should pressure the Taliban to allow the Pashayi community to receive education in their mother tongue. Otherwise, ignoring a language means ignoring a part of a country’s culture.”
Giyawa is a valley located about 10 kilometers from the center of Nijrab district, surrounded by mountains and inhabited entirely by members of the Pashayi ethnic group.
The right to education in one’s mother tongue is a fundamental human right recognized in international documents and conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, the Charter of Mother Tongue, the Declaration on the Rights of National, Linguistic, and Religious Minorities, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In Afghanistan under Taliban rule, not only the Pashayi language but also Uzbeki, Nuristani, and even Persian face serious threats and restrictions due to the Taliban’s discriminatory policies.
Earlier, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had announced that Afghanistan’s education system was on the verge of collapse.
UNICEF also stated that in public schools across the country, Islamic subjects make up nearly half of the weekly curriculum, a change that reflects the growing dominance of religious education.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
باشندهگان پشهای کاپیسا: طالبان حق آموزش به زبان مادری را از ما سلب کردهاند
