Tens of thousands of schoolgirls in Afghanistan return to school

All schools in Afghanistan were closed due to the COVID-19 epidemic by the time the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. However, only boys and a few younger girls were allowed to return to school two months later.

As planned, schools in Afghanistan will reopen on March 23, but schools in the Kandahar area – Afghanistan’s second largest city – will not open until next month. The cause of this is unknown.

An education ministry spokesman in Afghanistan, Aziz Ahmad Rayan, said reopening schools has always been the goal of the Taliban government. He stated that this goal is not to attract the attention of the international community, but is the responsibility of the government to educate and support facilities for students.

Although schools have reopened, public opinion is that the return of female students to school still faces many barriers, in which many families do not trust the Taliban government in this matter. Besides, Afghanistan is also facing a shortage of teachers because many people have fled the country when the Taliban took control of the country, Mr. Rayan acknowledged Afghanistan needs thousands of teachers and to solve the problem. During this time, the government is working to recruit new teachers on a temporary basis.

In September 2021, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned that Afghanistan is facing the risk of falling behind nearly two decades in the education of children, especially children. girls, in the context of this country in a serious humanitarian crisis.