The restrictions on girls’ education got even tighter in Kandahar. Local sources in the province say that the Taliban have sent a letter to girls’ schools prohibiting girls who are more than 13 years old from attending school.
The principal of a girls’ school in Kandahar city, who spoke to Zan Times on the condition of anonymity, said, “We received a letter on Saturday morning that girls’ schools are not going to be opened and girls who study up to the sixth grade should not be more than 13 years old.”
“The letter was sent on Saturday. They came to monitor on Sunday and said, ‘Why did you still allow girls older than 13 years old to attend school?’ They threatened me, saying, ‘If you disobey, you will lose your job,’” the principal added.
The principal added that she was forced to expel 15 female students who were more than 13 years old.
A teacher at a girls’ school in Kandahar confirmed this new restriction, telling Zan Times, “I was teaching in the class when the Taliban supervisors came in and said that girls older than 13 are no longer allowed to attend school.”
“When my students heard this, they were devastated, and their eyes filled with tears. They told me that they wish to build a brighter future, but why are they being deprived of the change,” the teacher added.
The teacher also noted that the Taliban also monitored the clothing of female teachers and repeatedly reminded them, “You must wear long black hijabs.”
Since the Taliban regained power, they repeatedly changed their explanation as to why girls are banned from continuing their education. In September 2021 the Ministry of Education opened schools for boys and girls up to grade 6 but did not allow girls in higher grades. Taliban spokesmen and diplomats insisted the ban is temporary until the group develops a mechanism for allowing girls beyond grade 6 in schools. (That was the same explanation the Taliban provided for the closure of girls’ schools when they were last in power in the nineties. However, the girls’ school never did reopen, at least not until after the Taliban regime fell in 2001.)
In September 2022, the Taliban minister of education issued a new reason for banning girls from education beyond grade 6 when stated that such a prohibition is in accordance with the Afghan people’s culture, who are supposedly against sending their daughters to school. The minister’s remark provoked widespread condemnation from across the county, as both fathers and mothers called for the Taliban to open the schools to their daughters.
Now, with this letter sent to schools in Kandahar, the Taliban have tightened their rules yet again. It’s yet another indication of the Taliban’s dishonesty and their deeply rooted hostility to girls’ education is deeply rooted.
Zainab, a grade 5 student, was one of those girls expelled from school because of her age. “I am 13 years old, that is why today at school they told me not to come to school anymore,” she says.
“I have no sin except that I am a girl. Is it a sin to be a girl? Why should we bury our dreams under the soil?” added Zainab in tears.
