Taliban allowed girls to attend school

Eight months after coming to power, in May of this year, the Taliban allowed girls above the sixth grade to attend schools and universities.

Photo: Internet

According to Afghan media, the Taliban government in Afghanistan decided to allow girls to attend schools and universities starting May 5, 2022.

According to the Taliban’s decision, girls above the sixth grade will be able to attend school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, while classes for boys will be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.

Previously, some civil society activists condemned the ban on attending school. On April 5, the parents of Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai criticized the Taliban on social media. The statement noted that girls in Afghanistan have been deprived of the opportunity to receive an education for 200 days, while the daughters of Taliban leaders are studying in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan.

Leaders of some countries have also repeatedly criticized the Taliban and demanded that all conditions be created for girls to receive an education.

The UN mission in Afghanistan called the deprivation of rights for girls above the sixth grade in the country “shocking.” “There is only one regime in the world that prohibits girls from receiving an education,” the statement noted.

Afghan civil society activists also criticized this Taliban initiative.

Earlier, Muhammad Tagi Usmani, Vice President of Darul Uloom Karachi, one of the largest religious and academic centers in the Islamic world, sent a letter to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, stating that educating girls in schools is in accordance with Sharia norms and is a necessity in the modern world. The letter noted that “to prevent negative propaganda against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the world,” and in accordance with Sharia norms, it is necessary to allow girls to attend schools.

In his letter, he proposed two ways to solve the problem of the lack of separate classes for girls:

a) boys can study in one shift, and girls in another shift in the same building.

b) divide classes into two parts, so that boys study in one and girls in another.

After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, they prohibited girls above the sixth grade from attending schools and universities. According to the new authorities, girls and female teachers will begin the educational process after the institutions complete the work on separating classes and facilities and distributing the teaching staff.