In Afghanistan, the school year started on Wednesday but without girls whom the Taliban prohibit from attending classes after the sixth grade, making it the only country with restrictions on female education.
According to the UN children’s agency, ‘More than 1 million girls are affected by the ban. It also predicts 5 million were out of school before the Taliban takeover due to a lack of facilities and other reasons.
The Taliban’s education ministry marked the start of the new academic year with a ceremony that female journalists were not allowed to attend. The invitations sent out to reporters said: “Due to the lack of a suitable place for the sisters, we apologise to female reporters.”
The Taliban’s Education Minister, Habibullah Agha, during a ceremony said that the ministry is trying to increase the quality of education of religious and modern sciences as much as possible.
The Taliban have been prioritising Islamic knowledge over basic literacy and numeracy with their shift toward madrassas, or religious schools.
The minister also called on students to avoid wearing clothes that contradict Islamic and Afghan principles. Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister, said they were trying to expand education in “all remote areas in the country.”
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