by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (Worthy News) – Five years after the Taliban returned to power, an estimated 2.4 million Afghan girls remain barred from secondary education, marking one of the most sweeping reversals of women’s rights anywhere in the world.
Afghanistan is now the only country where girls and women are formally prohibited from attending secondary schools and universities, according to UNESCO, which on Tuesday again called on the Taliban to immediately restore access to education.
When Taliban forces entered Kabul in August 2021 following the U.S. and NATO withdrawal, leaders initially claimed women would retain some educational opportunities. Those promises quickly disappeared.
Girls were blocked from attending school beyond the sixth grade, and in December 2022 the Taliban extended the ban to universities, effectively shutting women out of higher education.
Before the Taliban takeover, nearly one million Afghan girls were enrolled in secondary school, reflecting two decades of expanding educational opportunities. UNESCO officials now warn that much of that progress has been wiped out.
The consequences are expected to reach far beyond the classroom.
International agencies warn that excluding women from education will deepen Afghanistan’s economic crisis, reduce the number of qualified teachers and medical professionals, and leave an entire generation increasingly dependent on others.
The restrictions are also part of a broader effort by the Taliban to remove women from public life. Women have faced severe limits on employment, travel and participation in civic society as the Islamist government continues enforcing its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Despite repeated appeals from foreign governments, aid organizations and even Muslim-majority nations, Taliban leaders have refused to reverse the education bans.
UNESCO and other humanitarian organizations continue supporting community-based education and literacy programs where possible, but those efforts reach only a fraction of the girls now excluded from formal schooling.
For millions of Afghan girls, the most damaging reality may simply be the passing of time.
Five years without access to secondary education is no longer a temporary disruption. For many girls, it represents most or all of the years when they would normally prepare for university, professional careers and independent adulthood.
The Taliban’s return has therefore done more than close classrooms. It has placed the future of an entire generation of Afghan women in jeopardy.
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