Taliban backtracks on promise to let girls go to school

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year, one of the things they told the world (to gain some credibility) was that they would allow girls to continue to go to school.

But recently, when those schools were about to open up for the first time since they shut down, the Taliban backtracked at the last minute and sent students back home in tears. A Ministry of Education notice said on Wednesday that schools for girls in grades higher than sixth grade would be closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture.

Key comments:

“The denial of education violates the human rights of women and girls,” said Michelle Bachelet, the UN human rights high commissioner. “Beyond their equal right to education, it leaves them more exposed to violence, poverty and exploitation.”

“This is a worst nightmare come true for the women and girls of Afghanistan, who have had their future and all they had hoped and worked for ripped away from them over the last year,” said Samira Hamidi, an Amnesty International campaigner in Afghanistan. Hamidi said the Taliban had “betrayed” the country by “depriving a generation of women and girls of their right to education”.

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