The Taliban has granted more than 40 million Afghanis to hundreds of newly-built madrassas in the northeastern Takhar province over the past two weeks, local sources confirmed to Kabul Now.
This budget is intended to fund the educational expenses of thousands of students at these seminaries operating in districts adjacent to Tajikistan.
A source said on Monday, November 14, that the Taliban are attempting to expand operations of madrassas and encourage people to enroll in these religious schools. The Taliban leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzadah, ordered allocating this budget of 40 million Afghanis to madrassas in Takhar, the source detailed.
591 madrassas have been built and are officially registered with the Ministry of Education in Takhar since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, according to a source from the Taliban Directorate of Education in the province.
The source added that most of these madrassas are operating in districts situated along the Kokcha River’s bank. These madrassas teach Quranic-based lessons, Hadith, and, namely, the principles of Taliban-centered governance.
Since its return to power, the group’s officials have repeatedly insisted that they will build “standard” madrassas in each province and district across Afghanistan.
This comes amid the Taliban’s new bans against women’s education and employment rights in the country.
The group has recently prohibited women from going to recreational parks and effectively banned schooling for girls above the 6th grade since August of last year.