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The Taliban spokesman said “a safe learning environment” is needed before older girls can fully return to school.
Girls will have to wait longer to return to high school in Afghanistan, according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, as concerns grow over the fate of women’s education under the new government.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital Kabul on Tuesday, Mujahid said the group was “finalizing things” and the high school girls would return to class “as soon as possible”.
On Saturday, the education ministry released a statement saying, “All male teachers and students should attend their educational institutions,” but made no mention of girls or women.
Under their new education rules, girls and women can only be educated by female teachers or, in cases where there are not enough female teachers, by “older” men. who have shown that they are “pious”. Likewise, women can return to college but must study under some form of gender segregation.
Mujahid said a “safe learning environment” should be in place before older girls can fully return to school. He did not provide any details on what exactly needs to be done to create such an environment.
He also did not elaborate on shortcomings in the previous education system that the Taliban saw as obstacles to girls returning to school. Secondary schools were also separated under the previous government.
Increased concern
Mujahid’s lack of clarity has sparked increased concern among educators and students who fear the Taliban will revert to the intransigent restrictions of their five-year regime in the 1990s. At the time, all women and girls were banned from school. Only female doctors could continue to work.
Since the Taliban regained power last month, 20 years after being deposed in a US-led invasion, they have been sending mixed signals on women’s rights.
Secondary schools were also separated under the previous government [West Asia News Agency via Reuters]They allowed the workers of the Ministry of Public Health to return to work and several of their representatives visited the women health workers in the days after taking office, reassuring them that they could continue their work without hindrance. .
However, other women in Kabul, Herat and Kandahar reported that they were unable to return to work under the Taliban regime.
Last year, the previous government and his wife education minister were also criticized for proposals to restrict girls’ education.
At the time, then-Acting Education Minister Rangina Hamidi came under heavy criticism for a policy that would prevent older girls from singing at school functions, even though schools were also gender segregated. under this government.
The ban on singing was reversed after a social media campaign.
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