RASC News Agency: The Taliban-controlled Ministry of Education officially launched Afghanistan’s fourth academic year today, Thursday, during a ceremony at Amani High School in Kabul. Yet, for the fourth consecutive year, girls above the sixth grade remain barred from attending school, underscoring the regime’s continued suppression of female education. During the event, Habibullah Agha, the Taliban’s Minister of Education, refrained from addressing the regime’s long-standing ban on secondary and higher education for girls. Instead, he stated that the Taliban remain committed to “prioritizing both religious and modern sciences.”
Agha also claimed that the regime has been revising Afghanistan’s national curriculum for the past two years, ensuring that any content deemed incompatible with their interpretation of Islam and Afghanistan cultural traditions is eliminated. Meanwhile, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, Director General of the Taliban’s Examination Authority, stated that the Ministry of Education is responsible for cultivating students under a curriculum designed to instill unwavering loyalty to the Taliban, the nation, and the regime.
Haqqani further asserted that Afghanistani youth must compete on a global scale and work towards making the country self-sufficient. Additionally, Noorul Haq Anwar, Director General of the Taliban’s Administrative Affairs, claimed that the Taliban government has fulfilled all of its obligations, citing the enforcement of Sharia law, security measures, education, healthcare, and economic strengthening as the regime’s most significant achievements. Anwar stated, “Compared to the past, Afghanistan has witnessed remarkable progress in education, security, curriculum development, and other critical areas.”
Since regaining power in 2021, the Taliban have drastically altered Afghanistan’s educational framework, with religious studies and Islamic culture taking precedence over modern sciences and contemporary disciplines. Analysts argue that the Taliban’s curriculum restructuring is designed to mold students into ideological adherents of the regime, reinforcing their authority for future generations. For the fourth consecutive year, the Taliban have kept schools and universities closed to girls beyond the sixth grade. Rather than reversing or softening their stance, the regime has further entrenched its rigid policies, signaling a deepening crackdown on female education in Afghanistan.
