For the past three years, the sound of the school bell for girls has been mournful rather than joyful. Millions of girls beyond the sixth grade are still deprived of going to school upon hearing this bell. Despite repeated promises, the Taliban have not opened the doors of educational institutions to girls and women in the past three years. Despite expectations due to some statements from Taliban officials, it was anticipated that girls would be able to return to school in the new year, but the Ministry of Education’s announcement once again brought a sorrowful message for girls. The Taliban, who have designated the beginning of the new academic year during Nowruz, prohibited the presence of female journalists at the school bell-ringing ceremony. This group also warned male students and teachers to grow beards and refrain from wearing uniforms and ties. However, some citizens argue that the danger of Taliban indoctrination of students is deeper than depriving them of education through the Taliban’s methods. This comes as many countries and international organizations have called for the lifting of educational restrictions in Afghanistan.
Over the past three years, the Taliban have deprived millions of girls beyond the sixth grade of their right to education. Many girls who were in the sixth grade last year now find themselves disillusioned, while the innate desire of every human being inherently holds hope for success and reaching higher peaks.
The Ministry of Education, under Taliban control, has determined the start of the academic year in the country on the day of Nowruz. On Wednesday, the 1st of Hamal, the school bell was rung with the presence of senior officials of this group. In a statement, female reporters were asked not to participate in the school bell-ringing ceremony.
Officials of this group have also warned students and male teachers to prepare their “appearance and behavior” following Islamic principles and to refrain from wearing “un-Islamic” attire.
However, one male student, who prefers to remain anonymous, says that the Taliban’s intention behind mentioning “appearance and behavior” is to enforce growing beards and wearing “traditional Afghan clothes” and putting on a “Kandahari cap”. The student adds: “Last year, our school principal repeatedly asked students to grow beards because the Taliban had threatened him. Anyone who wore a tie and groomed their beard was subjected to ridicule. Anyone who wore a Kandahari cap was considered supportive of the Taliban system.”
Nevertheless, girls deprived of education say they expected the gates of schools to open for them in the new year. According to them, the educational deprivation of girls has dealt an irreparable blow to the country’s economic and human development.
One of the girls deprived of education, who doesn’t want her name mentioned due to Taliban security threats, criticizes the Taliban’s double standard policy towards women. She says, “Anything beneficial to the Taliban is halal in Islam, but if it costs this group, it’s haram in Islam. Begging women on the streets, street vendor women, and women YouTubers are halal, but education conducted in a completely female space is haram.”
Despite concerns from some citizens about changes in the educational curriculum, thousands of female students still harbored hopes of schools reopening, only to be disappointed again with the Taliban’s announcement. They say they are living through their darkest days.
Maryam, a student in Ghazni City, says she was in the ninth grade during the Taliban’s resurgence. She adds that she has spent the darkest days of her life under the rule of this group over the past two years. Maryam says, “If schools hadn’t been closed, I would have finished school this year. Over the past two years, we hoped that maybe today or tomorrow we would be allowed to go to school again, but this year, when schools remained closed to girls again, our hope faded away.”
This student, for whom going to school has now become a dream, emphasizes that the Taliban are afraid of educated and aware women and will never open the doors of schools and universities to girls and women in any way. Maryam says, “Over the past three years, the Taliban have repeatedly promised that we would work on the curriculum and dress code issue and allow schools to reopen, but in the end, we students have understood, and perhaps the people of the world have also understood, that the Taliban’s enemy is education and progress, and with the presence of the Taliban, we have buried our aspirations.”
However, Moqaddas Noori, one of the education-deprived girls, tells the Hasht-e Subh Daily that every time schools and universities are mentioned, anguish and sorrow erupt within her. Ms. Noori adds, “When the topic of universities and schools arises, I undergo a different state of being. This deprivation feels like a knot and a tumor in my brain and heart that truly torments me. Days pass, and instead of our pain being alleviated, it worsens, and the number of those drowning in this whirlpool increases every day. Enduring such a situation is truly agonizing. This pain is understood by those who are girls and are in Afghanistan.”
Moqaddas Noori highlights the increasing despair among girls, who have sunk into depression to the extent that they’ve ceased self-education due to a lack of hope, compounded by the unavailability of educational resources in many areas. She remarks, “I continually question the ban on girls’ education as if it were a nightmare. How can it be that, in this day and age, girls are deprived of schooling? Yet, I realize it’s a dream without awakening, leaving us pondering how much longer we’ll remain confined to household chores or solitary reading to acquire skills. We walk past school gates, barred from entry, even fearing to step outside.”
Ms. Noori asserts that only those who have experienced being girls themselves and completed schooling up to the sixth grade, yet have been denied access to higher grades, can truly empathize with the plight of education-deprived girls. According to her, offering sympathy and condolences alone cannot alleviate the pain; tangible actions are necessary. Recalling a girl who reached the sixth grade last year, but whenever the topic of education deprivation arose, “the world seemed to tilt for her, tears streaming down her face.” She holds onto hope for a future where girls’ smiles return and happiness graces the faces of their parents. Noori stresses that the educational restrictions in Afghanistan are nothing short of disgraceful.
However, some citizens of the country argue that the ideology and actions of the Taliban are subject to criticism, reducing the struggles for freedom of both men and women in the country to merely reopening the gates of educational institutions for women and girls is a reduction of citizenship demands.
Fawad Poya, a social media user, expressed: “The Taliban’s issue lies solely with non-Taliban individuals. If the school gates were to open, how would you address the phenomenon of Amir al-Mu’minin, a figure unaccountable and obligated to respect? How would you handle terrorism and the Taliban’s ties to terrorist networks and narcotics worldwide? What actions would be taken regarding the Taliban-centric educational curriculum?”
In the past two years, alongside women and girls who have demanded the reopening of schools and universities for girls, some civil activists have regarded teaching with Taliban ideological content in schools as worse than educational restrictions. According to them, the Taliban have altered the content of many school textbooks, replacing scientific subjects with religious ones that prepare the minds of students for recruitment to this group.
However, international organizations and member countries of the United Nations have continuously called for the lifting of educational restrictions on girls in Afghanistan. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in its latest message has demanded an end to the ban on girls’ education by the Taliban.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has stated that 1.4 million female students above the sixth grade in Afghanistan are deprived of education. The organization added that the deprivation of girls from education seriously affects their mental and psychological well-being and hinders Afghanistan’s development.
Amnesty International has also stated in a statement that the “excuses of the Taliban” for continuing educational bans have no end. The organization described the Taliban’s excuses as “baseless and for further discrimination” against women in Afghanistan.
It has been over 900 days since girls above the sixth grade in Afghanistan have not been to school. This is despite some Taliban officials announcing the continuous reopening of girls’ schools in their media statements and claiming that after revising the educational curriculum and providing “conditions,” girls will return to school.
Earlier, sources informed the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the Taliban supreme leader had decided to permanently close school doors to girls. However, due to widespread protests by citizens and countries worldwide, this decision has not been universally enforced.