RASC News Agency: In recent findings, the profound repercussions wrought by Taliban-controlled schools on Afghanistani youths are poised to profoundly shape the destiny of Afghanistan. The U.S. Department of the Treasury, over the weekend, unveiled fresh sanctions targeting two key Taliban figures in Afghanistan, systematically indicting them for their involvement in the systematic subjugation of women and girls. The U.S. Treasury, in a distinctive move, has officially labeled the Taliban’s restriction on girls attending schools beyond the sixth grade as “severe and pervasive discrimination.”
While the extensively documented brutal repression of the Taliban on the education of Afghanistani women and girls is firmly established, a report from Human Rights Watch, headquartered in New York, issues a stark warning about the irreparable damage being inflicted upon the education system in Afghanistan by the Islamist fundamentalists’ policies towards both boys and girls. Human Rights Watch underscores the potential emergence of a “lost generation” of children and the looming specter cast over Afghanistan’s future. The report, dated December 5th, presents firsthand testimonies from educators and students, painting a picture of schools that, since the Taliban’s resurgence to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of international forces led by the United States, have adopted a highly religion-centric curriculum enforced by the Taliban.
This comprehensive document recounts instances of escalated physical punishment, regressive alterations to the curriculum, and the expulsion of professional female teachers from boys’ schools. Sahar Fetrat, a researcher at Human Rights Watch who authored the report, declared, “The Taliban is inflicting irrevocable harm on Afghanistan’s education system for both genders. By destabilizing the entire educational framework in the country, they perilously risk begetting a generation bereft of quality education.” Human Rights Watch notes that students detail “chilling” new regulations in schools under Taliban control, emblematic of an education system rapidly regressing to pre-2011 conditions before the overthrow of the conservative Islamic protectorate by the United States.
Presently, as a student, donning anything vibrant is deemed a transgression, with garments like trousers, T-shirts, ties, and suits all classified as offenses. Possessing a smartphone in schools carries severe consequences, and merely listening to or having music is also construed as a crime. A student interviewed for this report informed Human Rights Watch that a person’s phone could lead to severe physical punishment, and numerous instances transpire daily where boys are penalized during morning assemblies or classes for various infractions like these.
