RASC News Agency: Despite the ongoing closure of schools for girls above the sixth grade, officials from the Ministry of Education under the Taliban administration claim that over the past year, 1,445,840 new students have been enrolled in public and private schools across Afghanistan. However, these figures are widely regarded as exaggerated, with many suggesting that the actual numbers reflect the recruitment of students into jihadist and religious Madrassas established by the Taliban. Since their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban have constructed numerous religious and jihadist schools, where students are indoctrinated with their extremist ideologies. A significant portion of the students attending these Madrassas are girls.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have imposed further restrictions on women’s education, barring female students from universities and preventing them from taking the national university entrance examination (Kankor). Last month, UNESCO, the UN’s cultural and educational body, issued a dire warning that if the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education remains in effect until 2030, more than four million Afghanistani girls will be deprived of access to education. According to the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Education, there are currently 18,337 public and private schools operational across the country.
The ministry has also announced the recent establishment of 316 new schools, including 106 public and 210 private institutions. Taliban officials further stated that over the past year, 152 public and private primary schools were upgraded to secondary schools, while 119 secondary schools transitioned to high schools. Additionally, the ministry’s data reveal that 123 schools and 159 local classrooms have been specifically dedicated to educating nomadic children (Kuchis), with 41,824 students currently enrolled.
The ministry also reported that over the past year, 20,000 graduates from domestic and international Madrassas have undergone qualification assessments. The Taliban-run Ministry of Education claims that, within the past year, they have printed and distributed 16,188,939 textbooks for grades 1 through 12, along with 617,978 textbooks for Islamic education centers and 294,641 literacy books. However, many students have voiced their frustrations, noting that the Taliban have removed scientific subjects from the curriculum and replaced them with Islamic culture and other ideologically driven topics favored by the Taliban.
Reports further indicate that since their return to power, the Taliban have intensified their focus on expanding jihadist schools. Hundreds of such institutions have been established under various names but share the same radical curriculum. In addition, the Taliban have banned the wearing of formal school uniforms, which had been mandatory under the previous Afghanistani republic. Male students now report that if they wear uniforms to school, they are denied entry by the Taliban-controlled school administrations.
It is worth noting that many Taliban members received their education in Pakistani madrassas during their insurgency against the previous Afghanistan government. After taking control of Afghanistan, they returned to the country, bringing with them a radicalized form of education that political experts and civil society activists have described as “extremist and fundamentally opposed to the values of the Afghanistani people.”
