Tears as the Taliban closes girls’ schools

FEMALE pupils in Kabul, Afghanistan, protested on Saturday after the Taliban ordered that secondary girls’ schools close, hours after they reopened.

The Taliban Education Ministry said schools for all pupils would open across the country last week, after months of restrictions on education for high school girls.

A day before the reopening, a ministry spokesman released a video welcoming back pupils.

However, last Wednesday a ministry notice said the girls’ schools would remain closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture, the government news agency Bakhtar News reported.

Boys were allowed to continue with their education.

“We inform all girls’ high schools and those schools that are having female students above class six that they are off until the next order,” the notice said.

The Washington Post reported that at one school in western Kabul, the Taliban fired their guns in the air to disperse girls who had gathered outside the gates.

“Taliban officials attributed the sudden reversal to the lack of a religiously acceptable uniform for girls and a shortage of females available to teach gender-segregated classes.”

Aljazeera.com said an AFP team was filming at Zarghona High School in Kabul when a teacher entered and said the class was over.

It said the pupils, back at school for the first time since the Taliban seized power in August, tearfully packed up their belongings and filed out.

“I see my students crying and reluctant to leave classes,” said Palwasha, a teacher at Omra Khan girls’ school in Kabul.

A teacher, who was not named for security reasons, said: “It is very painful to see your students crying. We all got disappointed and we all became totally hopeless when the principal told us. She was also crying.”

Even before the Taliban backtracked on its announcement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) had been sceptical about the Taliban’s determination to allow girls to go back to school.

Heather Barr, the interim co-director of the Women’s Rights Division at the HRW, said: “Taliban statements are often very different from Taliban actions.”

The decision drew condemnation from humanitarian agencies, rights groups and diplomats at a time when the Taliban administration was seeking international recognition.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said education for all pupils, including girls, was the expectation of the Afghan people and that it regretted the Taliban’s decision.

“We call on the Interim Government of Afghanistan to allow girls of all ages to partake in education in an inclusive manner as soon as possible first and foremost for the benefit of the Afghan people, and emphasise that we will continue to stand by the Afghan people in these difficult days,” it said.

Since the takeover of Afghanistan, Turkey had been working with Qatar to maintain operations at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, while holding talks to operate that airport and others if its security conditions are met.

Turkey has reportedly not recognised the Taliban leadership, but it has called for more global engagement with them.

Asian News International quoted Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, who said: “This decision to deny education to women and girls reneges a long-standing pledge. The Taliban’s refusal to educate its citizens, including women and girls, jeopardises Afghanistan’s future and its role in the international community.”

Rina Amiri, the US State Department’s special representative for Afghan women, tweeted: “We now know today’s decision to stop girls over Grade 6 from returning to school was not incidental. It was made by Taliban leadership and is a betrayal of Afghan families. Let’s be clear about several things. One, there is nothing Islamic about denying girls an education. One need only look at other Muslim-majority countries to see that.

“Two, there is nothing Afghan about denying girls an education. Surveys show widespread support among the Afghan people for girls’ education.”

Tolo News quoted Aziz Ahmad Rayan, the director of publications and communications at the Taliban Ministry of Education, who said: “The Ministry of Education once again assures our nation that it is fully committed to providing the educational rights of all our compatriots.”

On Saturday, more than two dozen girls and women protested in front of the Ministry of Education in Kabul, reported aljazeera.com

“Open the schools! Justice, justice!” chanted the protesters, some carrying books.

The Taliban is seeking to run Afghanistan according to its interpretation of Islamic law.