WEBDESK: The Afghan school year started on Tuesday, according to the Education Ministry. At the same time, the UN agency for children called again for teenage girls to be able to go back to school.
A year ago, after saying they would let all students go to school, Taliban leaders changed their minds. This made many high school girls cry when they showed up for class. It sparked criticism around the world, which has made it harder for the Taliban to get official international recognition.
Since then, girls’ elementary schools have stayed open, but most high schools have closed. In December, the Taliban banned female students from going to college. This decision caused outrage around the world and protests in some Afghan cities.
This week, the education ministry sent a letter saying that the school year would start officially after the winter break. The letter didn’t say anything about how girls would get to school. The head of the UN agency for children in Afghanistan said that schools should be open to all students. So that they can get back to socialising and building skills as well as learning.
“As the new school year starts in Afghanistan, we are happy that millions of students are going back to school. But we are very sad that teenage girls are not going back to school “In a tweet, Fran Equiza. Who works for UNICEF in Afghanistan, said this.
As more and more Afghan women have kept asking for schools to reopen, enrollment in the only option left, female religious schools, has gone up over the last year.
In Kunduz province, which was one of a few northern provinces where some girls’ high schools stayed open quietly last year, the government said that they are now closed for the time being.
Mohammed Ismail Abu Ahmad, head of Kunduz’s education department, told Reuters, “This year the schools are open up to class six for girls, we are waiting for further notice about secondary classes,”
Tuesday was the Persian New Year, which is widely celebrated in Afghanistan and used to be a public holiday. In the capital, Kabul, there were not as many schools open as usual.
Last year, Taliban officials said they would not recognise Nowruz as a public holiday, but they did not stop people from celebrating on their own.
