© KEYSTONE/EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
Heartbroken, tears in their eyes following having hoped, thousands of girls in Afghanistan returned home on Wednesday, following spending only a few hours in their colleges and high schools finally reopened, and then suddenly closed by the Taliban.
The announcement came as many students had already returned to secondary school for the first time since last August when Islamist fundamentalists seized power in the capital Kabul and severely curtailed women’s education rights and at work.
The education ministry offered no clear explanation, even as officials held a ceremony in the capital to mark the start of the new school year.
“In Afghanistan, especially in the villages, mentalities are not ready,” spokesman Aziz Ahmad Rayan told reporters. “We have certain cultural restrictions…but the main spokespersons of the Islamic Emirate will offer better clarifications,” he added.
According to a Taliban source interviewed by AFP, the decision would have come following a meeting Tuesday evening of senior officials, in the city of Kandahar (South), cradle and de facto center of power of the fundamentalist Islamist movement.
Wednesday’s date for the return of girls to secondary school had been announced weeks earlier by the Education Ministry, with its spokesman stressing that the Taliban had a ‘responsibility to provide education and educational facilities’ for students .
The Taliban had insisted on taking the time to ensure that girls aged 12 to 19 would be separated from boys – even though this separation already exists in most schools – and that establishments would operate according to Islamic principles.
Students in tears
In Kabul, at Zarghona high school, disgruntled girls closed their books and took back their bags, in tears, following the teachers interrupted classes. “I saw my students cry and hesitate to leave class. It’s very painful to see your students cry,” said Palwasha, a teacher at the Omara Khan girls’ school, also in the capital. .
In Geneva, the UN said it was “frustrated” and “disappointed” by the Taliban’s decision. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet denounced the failure of the Islamist authorities to honor their commitment, which was also made in her regard.
The Chilean condemns a violation of women’s rights and is “very worried”. She calls on the Taliban to guarantee education without discrimination “without delay” for the entire population. We must avoid exposing young girls to more violence and exploitation, she says.
UN Special Representative for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons said the closure decision “weakens confidence in the Taliban’s commitment”. This “further dashes families’ hopes of a brighter future for their daughters,” she tweeted.
brief demonstration
This return of girls to secondary school followed that of boys, as well as girls but only in primary school, who had been authorized to resume classes, two months following the capture of Kabul by the Taliban last August. Many feared that the country’s new masters would once more ban school for girls, as they had done during their first reign, from 1996 to 2001.
The international community has made the right to education for all a stumbling block in negotiations on aid and recognition of the Islamist regime. Several countries and organizations have proposed paying teachers.
On Wednesday, students at a Kabul high school briefly demonstrated following having to leave their school, according to witnesses and feminist activists. “They left when the Taliban came and told them to go home. It was a peaceful protest,” a shopkeeper told AFP.
“Psychologically affected”
Before the Taliban’s regarding-face, girls interviewed by AFP when schools opened said they were “happy” to return to class and even thanked the Taliban.
“When I arrived, I saw that the doors of the school were open and that all the pupils were coming, that made me very happy, and then I came to greet my teachers”, rejoiced Sadaf, pupil of 16 years old from Zarghona High School in Kabul.
“We thought that we might not have any progress for our future. For the past eight months, we have been at home and we have tried to study our books. I hope that with the Islamic Emirate (name of the Taliban regime), there may be more development,” added the teenager.
“Today is a very beautiful day,” enthused Marjan, a first-grade student at Gawharshad High School in the city of Herat (southwest). “Last year all the students were affected psychologically, we really don’t want that to happen once more,” added the young girl.
In seven months of rule, the Taliban have imposed a multitude of restrictions on women. They are barred from many government jobs, restricted in how they dress, and banned from traveling alone outside their towns.
The Islamists also arrested and detained several women activists who demonstrated for women’s rights. Due to the poverty or conflicts that have plagued the country, Afghan students have often missed entire swaths of the school year. Some continue their schooling until their teens or twenties.