The Taliban have set the salary for all female employees and teachers at 5,000 Afghanis, while significantly increasing the salaries of teachers in their Jihadi schools. According to an order from Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban supreme leader, a mullah in a Taliban Jihadi school who previously earned 20,000 Afghanis now receives 25,000 Afghanis, and a Taliban Sheikh-ul-Hadith earns between 30,000 to 40,000 Afghanis per month. Several female teachers in Kunduz province report that a teacher in a Taliban Jihadi school earns four times their salary and that the state budget also covers their family expenses.
Sources in Kunduz province confirm that the Taliban in this province pay their Jihadi school teachers four times the salary of a female teacher or employee. According to the sources, the salary of a teacher in the Taliban’s Jihadi schools is 20,000 Afghanis, which has recently been increased by another 5,000 Afghanis.
Sources add that the salary of a Sheikh-ul-Hadith and a Mufti in the Taliban’s Jihadi schools ranges from 30,000 to 40,000 Afghanis. According to the sources, Taliban Jihadi school teachers also receive additional benefits such as holiday bonuses, clothing, overtime pay, and five high-quality meals daily.
The sources emphasize that the Taliban’s Jihadi school teachers also provide food for their families from the schools, while simultaneously complaining that university professors earn more than they do.
According to the sources, there are only three major Jihadi schools in Kunduz province, and the expenses for all these religious institutions, including clothing, food, and other necessities for the teachers and their families, are covered by the state budget.
Meanwhile, several university professors and female teachers have complained about a significant reduction in their salaries by the Taliban. They say that the salary cuts have not only negatively impacted women’s morale but also created more serious problems for female employees.
Farida (pseudonym), one of these teachers, says, “We do not want to receive rationed salaries from the Taliban. We want them to provide us with a safe working environment as they claim, so we can work and receive our rights. This is a great injustice; they have deprived us of work and reduced our salaries. We are not beggars of the Taliban.”
This teacher adds that she is the head of her family, and the only income she has is her salary, which, after being reduced to 5,000 Afghanis, has caused her even more difficulties.
Zuhal (pseudonym), another teacher, also has no other income apart from her salary. She says that besides herself, many professors and employees rely solely on their salaries to make ends meet. According to her, they cannot even afford to provide dry bread for their children with 5,000 Afghanis.
This female teacher emphasizes, “We want our rights. We have served for years, and we will continue to serve, but the Taliban want everything for themselves, making life hell for the people. The Taliban forcibly collect heavy taxes from the people and receive millions of dollars in aid under the guise of humanitarian assistance, but it is unclear where this money goes.”
Additionally, several university professors in Kunduz, Badakhshan, Takhar, and Baghlan provinces say they are compelled to either protest against this Taliban action, poison their entire families, or find a way to leave Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, some women’s rights activists say the Taliban, in addition to intensifying the violation of women’s rights and broadly depriving them of education, employment, and work, have also promoted the culture of polygamy.
These activists, who prefer to remain anonymous in the report, emphasize that currently, many men, who cannot even afford to support their own lives, are following the Taliban’s example and engaging in second and third marriages, leading to the destruction and misery of women’s lives.
Furthermore, some regular school teachers say that while their salaries are inadequate, they also do not receive their payments on time and sometimes go two months without receiving their salaries.
Previously, the Hasht-e Subh Daily had obtained information indicating that the Taliban encouraged girls deprived of education to attend religious schools. At the time, sources said that in some cases, girls were encouraged by their teachers to marry Taliban members, and teachers proposed to the girls to become the wives of Taliban fighters.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here: