The Taliban have denied claims that Afghan women would be banned from secondary schools after calling on boys, but not girls, to resume education, claiming they needed to set up a “secure transportation system” for female students before allowing them back into classrooms.
The Taliban Ministry of Education ordered male students and teachers from the 6th to the 12th grade to report to their schools on Saturday. The announcement, issued on Friday, did not mention female students at all, sowing fears that girls would once again be excluded from secondary education.
When last in power between 1996 and 2001, the militant group banned women and girls from education and work and severely restricted their rights.
But speaking on Saturday, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said women will be allowed to study.
Mujahid said the Taliban was working on creating a secure transportation system for girls in grades six to 12.
Mujahid pointed out that women were being allowed to continue to study in other age groups. “We do have girls in universities continuing their education both in private and government-funded universities, but from grade 6 to 12 we are currently trying to provide a chance for them to carry on, and that’s in progress,” he said.
Afghanistan is now one of very few countries with no women in top government ranks
Taliban leaders have repeatedly promised to respect women’s rights, insisting publicly that women will play a prominent role in society and have access to education.
Militants have in some instances ordered women to leave their workplaces, and when a group of women protested the announcement of the all-male government in Kabul last week Taliban fighters beat them with whips and sticks.
While women have been allowed to continue their university education, the Taliban has mandated the segregation of genders in classrooms and said female students, lecturers and employees must wear hijabs in accordance with the group’s interpretation of Sharia law.
UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore said the organization was “deeply worried” girls would be excluded from education. “Girls cannot, and must not, be left behind. It is critical that all girls, including older girls, are able to resume their education without any further delays. For that, we need female teachers to resume teaching,” she said.
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