Unexpectedly, Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers decided not to reopen schools Wednesday for girls above sixth grade. They reneged on a promise and chose to appease their hardline base at the cost of further alienating international communities.
This surprising decision, confirmed in part by a Taliban official is likely to hinder efforts of the Taliban to gain recognition from potential donors. It comes at a time when Afghanistan is already suffering from a worsening humanitarian crisis. International community has called on Taliban leaders to reopen schools, and allow women to have access to public space.
This sudden reversal caught the Education Ministry off guard as it was about to start the school year. Schools in Kabul, and other parts of Afghanistan, were also affected. Some girls from higher grades were sent home by their teachers after returning to school.
Aid organizations stated that the move increased uncertainty about Afghanistan’s future because the Taliban leadership is struggling to reach a common understanding as it moves from fighting to governing.
The incident occurred as the Kandahar leadership convened amid reports of a Cabinet shuffle.
Thomas West, the U.S. Special Representative, tweeted his shock and deep disappointment at the decision and called it “a betrayal public commitments to Afghanistan people and the international community.”
He stated that the Taliban had made clear to all Afghans that they have the right to education and urged them to fulfill their promises to their people.
The Norwegian Relief Committee spends approximately $20 million each year to support primary education in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban have not yet provided any official information about the cancellation of classes for girls above sixth grade.
Berenice Van Dan Driessche was the advocacy manager for the committee. She said that their representatives hadn’t received official word of the changes as of Wednesday night and that girls from the 11 provinces where the committee works had been sent home after going to school.
She said that the committee’s staff in the provincials had “reported a great deal of disappointment and also a lot uncertainty” about the future. It stated that teachers in certain areas had indicated they would continue to teach girls until the Taliban issue an official order.
Waheedullah Hashimi, the external relations and donor representative for the Taliban-led government, said that the decision was taken late Tuesday night.
Hashmi said, “We don’t say they will close forever.”
U.N. special representative Deborah Lyons plans to meet with Taliban on Thursday to request that they reverse their decision, U.N spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated.
A statement from the Education Ministry earlier in the week urged all students to return to school when classes resumed on Wednesday.
Mawlvi Aziz Ahmad Rayan, a ministry spokesperson, told AP Tuesday that all girls would be allowed to return to school. However, the Taliban administration wouldn’t insist on this in areas where parents are opposed or schools cannot be segregated.
Although he was reluctant to provide details, he promised that if schools meet these conditions, it would not be a problem for them to start classes for girls in the upper grades.
He stated that although there are no issues from the ministry’s side in principle, he said that it was a sensitive cultural issue.
The decision to delay the return of girls in the higher grades seemed to be a concession made to the tribal and rural backbone of the Taliban hard-line movement, which is reluctant to send its daughters to school in many areas of the country.
This decision was also taken as the movement’s leader Haibatullah Akhunzada summoned them to southern Kandahar amid reports of a shakeup of the Cabinet, according to an Afghan leader also a member. Because he was not authorized, he spoke under the condition of anonymity.
According to the official, it is possible for some Cabinet senior positions to be changed.
There have been constant reports of disagreements among senior leaders since the Taliban’s victory in August 2021. These reports indicate that more hard-line members have been reported to be at odds with pragmatic leaders who desire to see greater international engagement. They want to be more inclusive than they were when they ruled Afghanistan in the past, allowing women to work but not letting girls go to school.
Today, Afghanistan allows television, which is a change from the past. Women are also allowed to watch TV, but they don’t have to wear the full-length burqa. They must cover their heads with the traditional hijab. Women are also returning to work in the Health and Education Ministries, as well as at Kabul International Airport for passport control and customs.
After Osama Bin Laden’s capture, the Taliban were expelled by a U.S.-led coalition. They had been harboring al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden. The Taliban returned to power last year after America’s chaotic exit.
Since the Taliban’s return, girls have been expelled from most schools beyond sixth grade. Although many universities were opened in the country earlier this year, the Taliban have made it difficult to keep them there since their return. A few provinces still offered education, but most of the provinces have closed schools for women and girls.
Private schools and universities in Kabul have been operating uninterruptedly.
Hashmi stated that the religiously motivated Taliban administration is concerned about enrolling girls in sixth grade beyond their current grades.
He said that the leadership had not decided when or how girls will be allowed to return to school. He acknowledged that most urban centers support education for girls. However, rural Afghanistan, especially in Pashtun tribal areas, is not supportive.
Hashmi said that in rural areas, a brother may disown a brother who allows his daughter to attend school. She added that the Taliban leadership is working to make education more accessible for girls beyond sixth grade.
Many Taliban are Pashtuns. Other ethnic groups, such as the Tajiks and Uzbeks in northern Afghanistan, either supported them or did not oppose their march through the country last January.
“We did all that the Taliban wanted in terms of Islamic dress and they promised that girls would be able to go to school, but now they have broken their promise,” Mariam Naheebi, a Kabul journalist, said to the AP.
Naheebi said, “They haven’t been honest with us,” and he has also protested for women’s rights.
