RASC News Agency: Numerous girls and women in Herat province, western Afghanistan, assert that the Taliban should prioritize reopening girls’ schools and universities rather than teaching traffic regulations to first through sixth graders. Zahra, a tenth-grade student at a girls’ school, told RASC News Agency on Friday, May 17, that the Taliban, with their notorious history, have wasted nearly three years of Afghanistani girls’ time and significantly hindered the progress of the country’s girls and women.
She stated that if the Taliban are now attempting to compensate by promoting education in various ways, their efforts fall short of addressing the aspirations of Afghanistani girls and women. Meanwhile, Salma Majidi, a twelfth-grade student in Herat province, told RASC News Agency that girls currently have a critical need for education, and the Taliban should prioritize this issue.
She noted that a significant portion of Afghanistani girls and women have been deprived of their education, causing them to fall ten years behind in both material and spiritual progress over the past three years. Majidi emphasized that the status of Afghanistani girls and women is well-established and that the Taliban should not undermine half of the society’s value.
Parisa Qayumi, a civil activist in western Afghanistan, told RASC News Agency that the Taliban are gradually approaching a point where they will have to reopen girls’ schools and universities themselves. She continued, saying that teaching traffic regulations to girls under the sixth grade in Herat represents a new chapter of the Taliban’s remorse toward this segment of society.
Qayumi added that if the Taliban are operating under the guidelines of the United States and European countries in Afghanistan, they must understand that their primary focus should be on the people.VIt is worth noting that Taliban officials in Herat province are more flexible compared to other members of the group.
