RASC News Agency: Local sources from Nangarhar province report that the Taliban has forcibly shut down community-based classrooms supported by international aid organizations across the region. According to an informed source within the Taliban’s Department of Education in Nangarhar, the closures were carried out following explicit orders from the Taliban Ministry of Education. The source stated that provincial education authorities recently mandated the cessation of operations for these classrooms.
On Saturday, November 30, the source revealed that classrooms in districts such as Kama, Dur Baba, Rodat, Momand Dara, Kot, Bati Kot, and Behsud had been funded by international organizations, including UNICEF. These initiatives, which aimed to provide education to children in underserved communities, have now been terminated by the Taliban. An educator from Behsud district disclosed that his classroom was among those closed under direct orders from the Taliban. “The Taliban instructed us to halt all classes until further notice,” the teacher explained, adding that he had reluctantly dismissed his students earlier that day.
This action mirrors similar moves in other provinces, including Bamyan, Uruzgan, Helmand, and Kandahar, where community-based classrooms funded by external organizations were also shut down. To date, the Taliban’s Ministry of Education has not provided any official explanation for these widespread closures. These classrooms have been a lifeline for children unable to attend formal schools, particularly for girls who have been systematically barred from education since the Taliban’s return to power.
Under Taliban rule, Afghanistani women and girls have faced severe restrictions, with formal schooling being entirely prohibited for them. In response to these oppressive measures, international organizations and educational institutions had established community-based learning initiatives to provide basic education to children, including young girls. However, the Taliban has now moved to eliminate these programs as well. Furthermore, the Taliban has restructured Afghanistan’s national curriculum, reshaping it to align with their ideological and political agenda, which further limits access to comprehensive education for the nation’s youth.
This alarming trend highlights the Taliban’s ongoing campaign to suppress education, deepen gender inequality, and deny the basic rights of Afghanistani children, drawing widespread condemnation from the international community.
