Tens of thousands of girls were due to return to secondary school in Afghanistan on Wednesday, more than seven months after the Taliban came to power after it severely curtailed women’s rights to education and work.
They follow boys, and girls but only in primary school, who had been authorized to resume classes two months after the capture of the capital Kabul by the Taliban last August.
The international community has made the right to education for all a stumbling block in negotiations on aid and recognition of the fundamentalist Islamist regime. Several countries and organizations have proposed paying teachers.
The Ministry of Education announced the resumption of classes on Wednesday for girls in several provinces – including the capital Kabul – but those in the Kandahar region (south), cradle of the Taliban, will not reopen until next month.
No reason was given for this delay.
“We are not reopening schools to please the international community, nor to gain recognition from the world,” spokesman Aziz Ahmad Rayan told AFP.
“We do this as part of our responsibility to provide education and educational facilities for our students,” he added.
The Taliban had insisted they wanted to take the time to ensure that girls aged 12 to 19 would be kept separate from boys, and that schools would operate according to Islamic principles.
Some students were eager to go back to school, despite the strict dress code imposed on them.
– “Already late” –
“We are already behind in our studies”, impatient Raihana Azizi, 17, who will go to class wearing a black abaya – a large garment covering the whole body – with a scarf on her head and neck. face covered with a veil.
In seven months of rule, the Taliban have imposed a multitude of restrictions on women. They are barred from many government jobs, restricted in how they dress, and banned from traveling alone outside their towns.
The Islamists also arrested and detained several women activists who demonstrated for women’s rights.
Despite the reopening of schools, many families are still wary of the Taliban and reluctant to let their daughters out.
Others see little interest in their studying.
“Girls who have finished their studies have found themselves at home, and their future is uncertain”, regrets Heela Haya, 20, who has decided to stop school.
“What will our future be?” asks the young woman.
Due to the poverty or conflicts that have plagued the country, Afghan students have often missed entire swaths of the school year. Some continue their schooling until their teens or twenties.
The organization Human Rights Watch also questions the motivation of girls to study.
“Why would you and your family make huge sacrifices to study if you can never have the career you dreamed of?” asks Sahar Fetrat, assistant researcher at HRW.
The Ministry of Education has acknowledged facing a shortage of teachers, many of whom were among the tens of thousands of Afghans who fled the country when the Taliban took over.
“We need thousands of teachers and to solve this problem we are trying to hire new ones on a temporary basis,” the ministry spokesman said.