Afghan schoolgirls cry as they graduate from sixth grade because they know their education is over
From
MOHAMMAD HABIB RAHMANI Associated Press
December 25, 2023, 1:35 a.m. ET
• 2 min reading
KABUL, Afghanistan — Bahara Rustam, 13, attended her final class at Bibi Razia School in Kabul on Dec. 11, knowing it marked the end of her education. Under Taliban rule, she will likely never set foot in a classroom again.
In September 2021, a month after the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan after two decades of war, the Taliban announced that girls would no longer be allowed to study from sixth grade onwards.
In December 2022, they extended this education ban to universities. The Taliban defied global condemnation and warnings that the restrictions would make it nearly impossible for them to be recognized as the country's legitimate rulers.
Last week, UN special envoy Roza Otunbayeva expressed concern that a generation of Afghan girls is falling behind with each passing day.
Last week, an education ministry official said Afghan girls of all ages would be allowed to study in religious schools called madrassas, which are traditionally reserved for boys only. But Otunbayeva said it was unclear whether there was a standardized curriculum that would allow modern subjects.
Bahara is sticking to her education and poring over textbooks at home. “Graduating (sixth grade) means we’re going into seventh grade,” she said. “But all of our classmates were crying and we were very disappointed.”
There was no graduation ceremony for the girls at Bibi Razia School.
In another part of Kabul, 13-year-old Setayesh Sahibzada wonders what the future holds for her. She is sad that she can no longer go to school to pursue her dreams.
“I can’t stand on my own two feet,” she said. “I wanted to be a teacher. But now I can’t study, I can’t go to school.”
Analyst Muhammad Saleem Paigir warned that excluding women and girls from education would be disastrous for Afghanistan. “We understand that illiterate people can never be free and prosperous,” he said.
The Taliban have barred women from many public places and most workplaces, relegating women almost exclusively to their homes.