The UN-backed fund Education Cannot Wait reports that the Taliban denies 300,000 Afghan girls access to education every year. The number of girls who have lost their right to schooling has reached 1.5 million. If the current restrictions continue, that number will soon grow to millions.
The fund criticised the Taliban for restricting girls’ education and preventing half the population from contributing to the country’s reconstruction.
Continued resistance and internal divisions
Since taking control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has targeted women and girls with decrees that ban them from education, work, and public life.
Yasmine Sherif, the Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, stated, “Currently, 1.5 million Afghan girls cannot attend secondary school due to Taliban restrictions. Each year, the number increases by 300,000. Soon, it will rise to millions.” She added, “This ban harms girls’ education and prevents women from becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers, and nurses.”
Sherif also pointed to internal divisions within the Taliban over policies, including education. “These divisions have always existed, but the Taliban kept them hidden. Now, they’re more visible, and some members are even fleeing the country because of these conflicts,” she said.
Ongoing defiance against oppressive policies
Afghan women and girls continue to resist despite the ban on education. One Kabul resident said, “They took away our education and jobs, but they haven’t stopped our fight.”
Women’s rights activists call the Taliban’s policies gender apartheid and institutionalised discrimination. Hoda Khamosh, a women’s rights activist, said, “We are not victims – we are the leaders of this revolution. We reject oppressive, misogynistic laws and will keep protesting.”
Under Taliban rule, the future of girls’ education remains uncertain. With each passing day, a new generation falls behind and loses its right to learn.
