KABUL: Afghanistan’s schools reopened for the new academic year on Tuesday, but no classes were held as students were unaware of the start and hundreds of thousands of teenage girls remain barred from attending class.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are prohibited from going to secondary school.
Taliban authorities have imposed an austere interpretation of religion since storming back to power in August 2021 after the withdrawal of the US-led foreign forces that backed the previous governments.
The education ministry made no public announcement of the reopening of schools, several teachers and officials said.
“A letter issued by the minister of education was given to us by our principal to reopen the school today but, since no public announcement was made, no students came,” said Mohammad Osman Atayi, a teacher at the Saidal Naseri Boys High School in Kabul.
Seven schools in Kabul only a few teachers and primary students were seen arriving but no classes were held.
Schools also reopened in provinces including Herat, Kunduz, Ghazni and Badakhshan but no lessons were held there either.
Officials held a ceremony to mark the start of the new academic year at a boys school in Kabul.
Tuesday’s start of the new academic year coincided with Nowruz, the Persian New Year, celebrated widely in Afghanistan before the Taliban returned to power but now considered “illegal” by the country’s new rulers.
Hundreds of thousands of teenage girls remain barred from secondary school.
“The Taliban have snatched everything away from us,” said 15-year-old Sadaf Haidari, a resident of Kabul who should have started grade 11 this year.
The international community has made the right to education for women a key condition in negotiations over aid and recognition of the Taliban government.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) urged the authorities on Tuesday to lift the ban on girls’ education.
“UNAMA reiterates its call to de facto authorities to reverse all discriminatory policies against women and girls,” the mission said.
“They not only impede the aspirations of half of the population but are causing great damage to Afghanistan.” — AFP
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