KABUL — The Taliban have shut down two literacy centers for women in central Bamyan province, local sources told KabulNow, in another setback for adult education under the group’s rule.
According to the sources, the closures also led to the dismissal of 20 female instructors. The two centers, named Qalam No. 1 and Qalam No. 2, were located in Bamyan city and Yakawlang district, where adult women—many of them previously denied formal schooling—were receiving basic education in reading, writing, and numeracy.
The Taliban reportedly dissolved both centers entirely, along with their administrative structures. Teachers and administrators were instructed not to sign attendance sheets from the beginning of the Afghan month of Mizan (late September), and all equipment and materials were collected by local authorities.
A source said the centers had been established during the republic era to help improve literacy among women, particularly in rural areas where access to education was already limited.
The crackdown extends beyond Bamyan. In Nangarhar province, the Taliban have dismissed around 90 female literacy instructors and closed down similar programs. Those classes, mainly run in district areas, were funded by aid organizations that paid teachers’ salaries. Books and teaching materials from these programs have now been handed over to the Taliban’s provincial education department.
According to local officials, the Taliban’s Ministry of Education plans to shut down all literacy programs across the country. These community-based courses had been a vital source of education for adults—especially women—who were never able to attend formal schools.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have barred girls and women above grade six from attending schools and universities, part of a sweeping set of restrictions that human rights groups describe as “gender apartheid.”
Meanwhile, the group continues to expand its network of religious and jihadist schools and has initiated a nationwide revision of Afghanistan’s curriculum to align it with their ideological agenda.
The closure of adult literacy centers, observers say, underscores how the Taliban’s policies are erasing even the limited spaces that once existed for women to gain basic education and independence.
