2.4 million Afghan girls shut out of secondary school during 5 years of Taliban rule, UN says

Five years after the Taliban takeover, approximately 2.4 million Afghan girls remain barred from secondary education, according to a United Nations agency. UNESCO, the UN's educational, scientific, and cultural organization, renewed its call Tuesday for the immediate restoration of girls' right to education, deeming the continued exclusion a grave violation of fundamental rights.

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Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls and women are formally banned from secondary and higher education.

"Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls and women are formally banned from secondary and higher education," said Hoda Jaberian, UNESCO's program coordinator for education in emergencies. She emphasized that "five years is not a temporary interruption in a child's education. It is clearly almost an entire secondary school cycle." Jaberian stressed that the right to education is "not negotiable" and is a basic human right.

The Taliban seized control in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew. They subsequently banned girls from secondary schools and later extended restrictions to higher education, employment, and other sectors, effectively removing women and girls from public life. These measures have persisted despite appeals from the UN, humanitarian groups, human rights advocates, and several Islamic countries, with the Taliban asserting it is a domestic issue.

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Five years is not a temporary interruption in a child's education. It is clearly almost an entire secondary school cycle.

Jaberian noted that these restrictions are undoing two decades of progress. While girls' access to schooling was limited in 2001, nearly one million girls were enrolled in secondary education by 2021. "Afghanistan had made really major progress in expanding girls' access to education," she stated, "But unfortunately, much of that progress now has been completely reversed."

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UNESCO continues to call for the immediate and unconditional restoration of girls and women's right to secondary and higher education. It is not negotiable. It's a basic human right and we reiterate that there is no substitute for this.

Despite the ongoing restrictions, UNESCO continues to support education in Afghanistan through community-based programs, literacy, and skills development classes held in community spaces. "While the restriction remains, we cannot abandon Afghan learners," Jaberian said. "UNESCO work with communities and our partners from the communities to preserve every possible pathway to learning."

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Afghanistan had made really major progress in expanding girls' access to education. But unfortunately, much of that progress now has been completely reversed.