Taliban Bans Women From Returning To Secondary Education, But Allows University Under Strict Rules

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Afghan boys returned to school last Saturday. However, the Taliban did not allow women.

The hardline Taliban made the announcement on Friday, declaring that male students and teachers could return to school.

"All male teachers and students must attend their educational institutions," the statement said.

Speaking to the BBC, Afghans reacted to the Taliban's ban on women returning to secondary education.

"Everything looks so dark. Every day I wake up and ask myself why am I alive? Should I stay at home and wait for someone to knock on the door and ask me to marry him? Is this the purpose of being a woman?" said an Afghan schoolgirl, who dreams of becoming a lawyer.

"I want to be a doctor! And that dream has gone. I don't think they will let us go back to school. Even if they open secondary schools again, they don't want women to be educated," said a 16-year-old Kabul-based schoolgirl.

Although the Taliban claim their laws follow strict Islamic rules, the holy Koran actually encourages the education of women, says there is an "Islamic obligation" to seek knowledge, and there has been a proud tradition of female clerics in the Islamic world for centuries.

Prophet Muhammad's (SAW) wife Aisha, a woman, is considered a well-known Muslim scholar and is respected in the religion as an educator.

"Education and literacy are so highly valued in Islam that the Taliban can't ban girls from going to school on Islamic grounds, so they always say they will open them when security is increased. They never do. They never open schools," Clark, co-director of the Afghanistan Analyst Network, said. told the Guardian.

Although the Taliban have 'allowed' women to return to university education, strict sex-segregation rules could cripple some universities, which do not have the resources to provide separate classes.

If young girls are barred from secondary education, they will not be able to continue on to higher education.