Two sisters are among one of the first cohorts of graduates from Nangarhar province’s Institute of Health Sciences since the Taliban permitted women to receive health worker training.
Basila Aryan graduated from midwifery and Shabila Aryan from nursing on Thursday night.
Their brother Rashad Aryan celebrated their graduation in a public post on Facebook, calling on his fellow Afghans to support the right to education.
“Girls in our society should learn to become doctors, teachers, pilots, police officers and engineers,” he said in the post celebrating his sisters on Friday.
“Pashtun brothers should understand that girls’ education is not a shame. Rather, it is the responsibility of men and the absolute right of girls. This right and responsibility must be fulfilled.”
He said that he fulfilled his brotherly responsibility towards both his sisters.
He told Rukhshana Media about the right of Afghan women and girls to education, study and work.
He called on the Taliban to open universities, schools, and educational institutions to girls so that they could use their rights for the progress and development of society.
His post was shared and commented on in support but many young people in Nangarhar.
Saifullah Momand, a doctor in Nangarhar province, shared Aryan’s post and wrote: “In the 21st century if someone is ashamed of his sister’s and daughter’s education, he is unfortunate.”
It has been nearly three years since the Taliban banned the education of girls above the sixth grade in Afghanistan.
Despite the widespread protests against the ban, the Taliban have demonstrated it is determined not to to reopen educational institutions for girls and women in the country.
