RASC News Agency: Sources in Helmand province report that Taliban officials from the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice have visited several schools, instructing students to comply with strict grooming standards. The officials warned that students must not attend school without wearing caps or growing beards, stressing that the appearance of public school students must not differ from that of religious seminary students. On Sunday, students in Lashkargah, Helmand’s provincial capital, stated that Taliban officials ordered them to adopt a uniform dress code. One student, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Around 9:30 AM, Taliban officials arrived at our school and instructed us to wear caps and avoid adopting a Western style of dress when coming to school.”
Another student reported that officials had prohibited haircuts and shaving. According to the student, the officials said, “We will return for inspections. Your beards must be properly groomed, and your hair should not be styled in any specific way.” Further reports suggest that the Taliban’s virtue officials have instructed Helmand’s education department to eliminate distinctions between the attire of public school students and religious seminary attendees. Similar directives have been issued in Uruzgan province, where students and university attendees are barred from entering educational institutions without wearing caps.
This is not the first instance of the Taliban enforcing such mandates. Numerous previous reports detail their requirements for students, government employees, teachers, and university professors to wear caps and maintain beards. In a recent statement, the Taliban’s Ministry of Education confirmed that officials from the Promotion of Virtue department had toured eleven provinces to inspect the grooming and appearance of teachers and education staff. This latest move underscores the Taliban’s ongoing efforts to impose rigid social codes and uniformity across Afghanistan’s educational institutions.
