Afghanistan crisis: Women must reopen schools on their own, says rights activists

Afghanistan's former government's peace negotiating delegation’s member and a women's rights activist, Fawzia Koofi, stated on September 19 that Afghan females should reopen their own schools. “Teachers should stand with them in the protest," Koofi remarked, ANI reported quoting Khaama Press News Agency.

"The Taliban had promised to protect women's rights but the group has not been following through," she added. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) applauded the reopening of Afghan schools on September 18 but warned that girls should not be kept out of the classroom.

"We are profoundly concerned that many girls may not be permitted to return to school this time," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement on September 17. "UNICEF will continue to advocate with all actors to ensure that all girls and boys have an equal opportunity to learn and develop the skills they need to flourish and contribute to the development of a peaceful and productive Afghanistan," added Fore.

Taliban mandated high schools to reopen only for male students & teachers

By mandating high schools to reopen solely for boys, the Taliban have effectively excluded girls from secondary education in Afghanistan. Secondary school sessions for boys in grades 7 to 12 began on September 18, according to the Taliban education ministry. The statement stated that “all-male teachers and students should attend their educational institutions.” The fate of girls and female instructors, who have been confined to their homes since the Taliban seized power, was not addressed.

Afghanistan is now the only country on the planet that forbids half of its population from receiving secondary education. The former ministry of women's affairs building in Kabul has been handed over to the newly re-established ministry for the prevention of vice and promotion of virtue, indicating that the Taliban leadership is tightening restrictions on women.

Taliban, hell on earth for females?

In the 1990s, this was the group's most dreaded enforcer, responsible for punishing women who broke rules ranging from going out in public without a male guardian to an overly strict clothing code that even barred high heels. The decision on education has troubling overtones of the Taliban's practises of barring girls from school without imposing a legal restriction in the 1990s, when they last ruled Afghanistan.

When the Taliban ordered all primary school kids back to class and announced women could study for degrees, they appeared to be more amenable to women's education, albeit in a completely gender-segregated system that will drastically reduce the range and quality of women's possibilities.

Image: AP