Schools In Afghanistan Reopen, But Ban On Women's Education Still Persists

Schools in Afghanistan reopened on Tuesday for the new academic year; however, classes weren’t held because students didn’t turn up as no public announcement was made. The education ministry had issued a letter confirming the reopening of schools, but students weren’t aware of it. Girls in primary classes alone are allowed in schools, but higher education for ban girls still remains banned.

This comes a year after the Taliban-led Afghan government banned higher education for adolescent girls. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls above the sixth grade are denied access to education. The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, and since then it has been gradually eradicating women from public spaces. Since December 2022, higher education has been banned for girls and women and continues this academic year too.

Afghan Women Education Ban

Girls above the sixth grade aren’t allowed to continue their schooling, and young women are banned from colleges and universities because "they weren’t following the instructed dress code." A report revealed that denying education to women led to an increase in early marriages and abuse against Afghan women. The future of over three million girls who were once enrolled in school seems bleak.

Women in Afghanistan are not allowed to pursue higher education, have a career, travel alone without a male companion, or even visit parks and bathhouses. They also have to cover themselves literally from head to toe and are barred from working in national and international non-governmental organisations, obstructing the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Many women have been protesting and calling on the Taliban government to revoke the education ban on women. Although the Taliban government claimed that women hadn't been banned permanently and their education had only been postponed, no measures are being taken to revoke the ban.

Education enlightens women about their rights, encourages them to dream big, and empowers them to achieve remarkable heights. It makes women aware of their rights and freedom. Women will realise their bodily autonomy and agency over their lives and will begin to revolt against any form of oppression.

Women's empowerment threatens the very essence of patriarchy. So by denying them education, patriarchy can avoid all the other threats that woke women bring along. Without education, women will not be aware of their rights, and patriarchy can easily take them back to our ancestral era, where all that women did was take care of the household and raise children. Their entire existence will yet again be dependent on men, which is basically what patriarchy aims to establish.

Recently, a group of women in Afghanistan’s Herat developed an online educational programme called "Maktab" for girls above the sixth grade. Although this is an effective initiative on a temporary basis to compensate for the loss of education, it cannot be a long-term solution. Attending school and university isn’t only to gain academic knowledge but also to socialise. Students from around the world studying from home during a pandemic is acceptable. However, women from one country being forced to study online because of a regressive government is not.

On International Women’s Day, the UN Mission said in a statement that the "singular focus of Afghanistan’s rules has been imposing rules that leave the majority of women trapped inside their homes," which is the harsh truth. The dreams of Afghan women are crushed, and their talents are curbed at the nib by the Taliban-led Afghanistan government. Despite international condemnation, the Afghan government is showing no signs of changing its oppressive ways.

It’s 2023, and how can we let women in one country be completely oppressed while the rest of the world is relatively progressing? Confining a whole generation of young women is not just a human rights issue but also an economic crisis. What is the future of Afghan women if this situation persists in the country? Should they be left in the dark with their lives destroyed because they were born as women in Afghanistan? It’s the entire world against Afghanistan, so shouldn’t we make a collective effort to free Afghan women?

Views expressed by author are their own

Suggested Reading: Group Of Women In Herat Create Online Education For Afghan Female Students