In Afghanistan, the Taliban ordered the closure of secondary schools for girls, contradicting what was previously established and a few hours after their reopening. Journalistic sources on the spot verified this and the spokesman for the Afghan Islamists, who returned to power last August, Inamullah Samangani, confirmed it to the AFP.
An AFP crew was filming the girls’ return to school after months at Zarghona High School in Kabul, when the teacher walked into the classroom and ordered all the students to go home. Many of them reacted to the arrangement with tears, the source says. “We are disappointed and have lost all hope when the principal told us. He was crying to her too, ”a student told Reuters news agency.
The Taliban’s ban on women’s education
The international community had made the equal right to education for all one of the central points of the negotiations with the Taliban regime on aid and political recognition. Between 1996 and 2001, at the time of their first government, the Taliban had banned training and much of female employment. Last week, the Minister of Education announced the reopening of schools for all students, ending a 186-day hiatus, complete with a congratulatory video for students. Then today’s reverse: “We inform all high schools for girls and those schools that have students above the sixth grade (first grade, ed) that they will remain closed until further notice” reads a government note. The reopening of the institutes will have to be defined with a new plan, in compliance with Islamic law and Afghan culture.
