Education in Afghanistan in the context of "Women in Afghanistan"

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⭐ Core Definition: Education in Afghanistan

Education in Afghanistan includes K–12 and higher education, which is under the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education. In 2021, there were nearly 10 million students and 220,000 teachers in Afghanistan. The nation still requires more schools and teachers. Soon after the Taliban take took the country in August 2021, they banned girls from secondary education. Some provinces still allow secondary education for girls despite the ban. In December 2022, the Taliban government also prohibited university education for females in Afghanistan, sparking protests and international condemnation. In December 2023, investigations were being held by the United Nations into the claim that Afghan girls of all ages were allowed to study at religious schools. As of November 2024, some parts of the country allow women to attend religious schools to pursue dentistry, nursing, and other subjects.

According to Acting Education Minister Noorullah Munir, "Afghanistan has 20,000 official schools in which 9,000 are of no use, 5,000 have no building and the remaining 4,000 needed rehabilitation." Compulsory education in Afghanistan is through the ninth grade. "The academic year consists of 2 semesters, and runs from March to January." Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, officials under the Islamic Emirate have suspended secondary education to teenage girls.

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👉 Education in Afghanistan in the context of Women in Afghanistan

Women's rights in Afghanistan are severely restricted by the Taliban. In 2023, the United Nations termed Afghanistan as the world's most repressive country for women. Since the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban gradually imposed many restrictions on women's freedom of movement, education, and employment. Women are banned from studying in secondary schools and universities, making Afghanistan the only country to prohibit women from studying beyond the sixth grade (age 12). Women are not allowed in parks, gyms, or beauty salons. They are forbidden from going outside for a walk or exercise, from speaking or showing any part of their face or body outside the home, or even from singing or reading from within their own homes if they could be heard by strangers outside. In extreme cases, women have reportedly been subjected to rape and torture in Taliban prisons.

Women face harsh punishments such as flogging and stoning to death for adultery. There is an increase in female suicides among and sexual crimes targeted at women increased following the takeover of Taliban in 2021. Many women have left the country to places such as Iran to pursue education and employment. The discrimination against women and systematic segregation in Afghanistan under the Taliban has been termed as "gender apartheid" by organizations such as the UN and Amnesty International.

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Education in Afghanistan in the context of Taliban

The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant organization with an ideology comprising elements of the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism and Pashtun nationalism. It ruled approximately 90% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American-led invasion after the September 11 attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. Following a 20-year insurgency and the departure of coalition forces, the Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021, overthrowing the Islamic Republic, and now controls all of Afghanistan. The Taliban has been condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education, and for the persecution of ethnic minorities. It is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, and the Taliban government is largely unrecognized by the international community.

The Taliban emerged in 1994 as a prominent faction in the Second Afghan Civil War (1992–1996) and largely consisted of warlords from the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan. Under the leadership of Mullah Omar, the movement spread through most of Afghanistan, shifting power away from the Islamic State of Afghanistan, as well as other Mujahideen militants. The Taliban seized Kabul in 1996 and established the First Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan that was opposed by the Northern Alliance, which maintained international recognition as a continuation of the Islamic State.

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← Taliban ← Women in Afghanistan
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
American University of Afghanistan → Kabul → K–12 → Higher education → Ministry of Education (Afghanistan) → Ministry of Higher Education (Afghanistan) → Afghanistan → List of schools in Afghanistan → Fall of Kabul (2021) → Women in Afghanistan → United Nations → Noorullah Munir → Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan →