“The message is simple: every girl has the right to go to school.” Those were the words posted on X by UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan Tajudeen Oyewale on Thursday, as classrooms in the country reopened for the fifth year since girls were barred from attending secondary school.
Taliban officials attended ceremonies in the capital Kabul and across the country as the new academic year began after the Eid and Nowruz (Persian new year) festivals – but there was no mention of including girls any time soon.
Shortly after retaking power in August 2021, the Taliban banned girls from both secondary school and higher education, a move that sparked global outrage.
“When girls learn, societies grow stronger and the future becomes brighter for everyone,” posted Oyewale above the hashtag #KeepingHopeAlive for girls.
More than 2.2 million adolescent Afghan girls have now been deprived of an education, according to UNICEF, severely limiting both their opportunities and the development of the country.
Hamid Karzai, who as president of Afghanistan oversaw the opening up of education to girls, wrote on X that “the future of the country” depends on the education of both girls and boys, and he called on the Taliban to reopen schools and universities to girls.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Education has said it has changed the curriculum for both madrassas and schools from grade 1 to grade 6.
