KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Afghanistan’s education system is facing an “unprecedented” crisis, with millions of children, particularly girls, excluded from schooling, and overall learning quality is declining sharply, according to a new UN report.
The joint report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Afghanistan Education Situation Report 2025, reveals that more than 2.1 million primary school-age children are out of school and 90 percent of ten-year-olds cannot read a simple text — highlighting one of the world’s most severe learning crises.
The report notes that while access to education expanded over the past two decades, restrictive Taliban policies, chronic underinvestment, and recurring humanitarian crises have reversed much of that progress and increased educational inequalities.
UNICEF and UNESCO said the Taliban’s ban on girls’ secondary education has deprived more than 2.2 million adolescent girls of schooling. Boys’ enrollment in higher education has also dropped by around 40 percent, largely due to poverty and family responsibilities.
Early childhood education remains critically underdeveloped, with fewer than one percent of children aged three to five enrolled in early learning programs. The report also notes that the Taliban have increasingly prioritized Islamic education over general education, reshaping the sector’s direction and financing.
Infrastructure challenges are widespread. The report found that nearly half of schools lack safe buildings, 79 percent have no electricity, and many remain without water, sanitation, or protective walls, all factors discouraging attendance, particularly for girls.
The UN agencies stressed that education is a symbol of hope and stability for Afghanistan’s children, but this hope is rapidly diminishing. They called on the Taliban to lift restrictions on girls’ and women’s education at the secondary and higher levels, and urged the international community to increase investment in primary education and literacy programs.
Afghanistan’s education system has been in crisis since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. Shortly after taking control, the group banned girls from schooling beyond sixth grade and later extended restrictions to universities. It also revised curricula to focus on religious subjects and built thousands of religious schools nationwide.
UN agencies, international rights groups, and education advocates warn that these policies risk leaving an entire generation without basic literacy, essential skills, and future opportunities.
