By Azada Taran
Lessons in arts and culture or civic engagement are out. In their place, a renewed focus on religious studies, Sharia law and recitations of the Quran. This is education, Taliban-style.
In January this year, Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers decreed that all state-run and private schools must follow a new curriculum that they have written. All schools must hire a Qari – a reciter of the Quran – and a religious scholar to teach students about the Islamic legal system, known as Sharia.
The decree was clear and specific. Several subjects that pupils previously studied throughout their schooling were to be removed from the curriculum entirely, while others would have fewer hours devoted to them. Beginning the day with either Islamic teachings or recitation of the Quran became compulsory.
Then this month, the Afghan Education Ministry wrote to schools saying it was removing 51 subject headings from the curriculum, describing them as anti-Islamic.
The changes have been shocking and demoralising for many students. Mustafa Akbari*, an 18-year-old student at a private high school in Kabul, said schools now resembled the Taliban’s religious madrasas.
“I want to become a painter and singer. But unfortunately, now in Afghanistan, art and music have no place. So where should we go? Should we sit and learn nothing?” he said. “These changes have destroyed our motivation.”
The headmaster of a public school in Kabul, Mohammad Kamal*, said the Taliban had banned subjects they considered inconsistent with Sharia law and instructed schools to teach more religious content.
He said the axing of subjects would have “clear negative consequences” for the children’s futures, citing the cutting of life skills lessons from grades one to three.
“This subject taught students essential social manners, such as greeting elders, showing respect, and table etiquette. It included dramatised lessons that students enacted to better absorb and apply the concepts in real life,” he said.
“Now that this subject is gone, students are deprived of learning social skills—and there’s no alternative provided. This omission will have clear, negative consequences in the near future.”
Eight-year-old Arzoo* already misses the life skills classes and no longer has the same enthusiasm for school.
“We learned how to greet older people, how to cross roads, and about city laws and traffic rules. Now that the subject is removed, I don’t know how we’re supposed to learn these things,” he said.
Other subjects affected include Social Studies and English, which has been reduced, while Culture and Art has been replaced with Chemistry and the study of the Quran. The loss of Civic Education classes means children no longer learn about democracy and human rights, and from this year, every school must have an Islamic scholar to teach Religion.
Education activist Fahim Tawakuli* told Rukhshana Media that Afghanistan’s education system was already outdated and damaged by repeated political and military upheavals even before the latest order – to the detriment of young people.
“As someone who has spent his life in education, I believe the removal of certain subjects has had a devastating impact on students’ motivation,” he said. “Cultural Studies, for example, is an essential part of a school’s curriculum. When a child enters school, Cultural Studies helps them understand the traditions of their region and country.”
As well as impeding students’ academic development, removing it from the curriculum puts Afghanistan’s cultural heritage at risk, Tawakuli warned.
“We are all Muslims. We study the Quran at home and in school, and we follow it. But Taliban extremism in this regard is destroying the future of our youth. They claim the current curriculum contradicts Islam and their version of Sharia.”
For Afghan girls, excluded from secondary school since the Taliban came to power four years ago, the latest moves are just one more blow.
“The religious enforcement officers from the Taliban often visit our classroom,” said 12-year-old Shahla. “They remind us we are girls and that, for the few years of education that we are given, we must always follow Sharia, study religious subjects, and prepare to live according to the Prophet’s guidance when we marry.”
*Names have been changed to protect sources
