The Taliban has instructed educational institutions in several provinces of Afghanistan not to allow girls over the age of 10 to attend the classrooms.
According to BBC Persian, officials from the Taliban Ministry of Education in Ghazni province have informed principals of schools and short-term educational institutions that girls over 10 years old are not allowed to attend primary schools.
Additionally, sources from non-governmental aid organizations have confirmed to the BBC that the Taliban has issued similar recommendations and orders to their literacy classes.
In some schools, local authorities from the Taliban Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice have reportedly separated the girls and boys based on their gender and age, and female students above the third grade were asked to go home.
A sixth-grade student from eastern Afghanistan shared with the BBC, “We were told that tall girls over 10 years old are not allowed to attend school.”
However, the Taliban Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has not confirmed the new restriction to the BBC, stating that any such restriction is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education.
Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, secondary schools for girls have remained closed. Additionally, in December 2022, the group banned university education for women.
Despite widespread protests by women both inside and outside the country and the international calls for reopening girls’ schools, the Taliban have not backed down from their decision of banning education for girls.
