Afghan girls wait anxiously due to stagnant high school | News

As high schools continue to close, millions of girls across Afghanistan are anxiously waiting to return to the classroom, which has raised concerns about the future of women’s education under the Taliban.

The country’s new ruler allowed boys in the same age group (7-12 years old) to attend classes last month, but stated that a “safe learning environment” is needed to allow older girls to return to school.

At the time, the Taliban’s Deputy Minister of Information and Culture Zabihullah Mujahid stated that the organization was studying “program“Send the teenage girl back to the classroom.

At the first press conference after the Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15, Mujahid promised to “allow women to work and study” because it tried to eliminate the people’s complaints that were marked by restrictions on women’s rights between 1996 and 2001. Fear of domination.

The continued ostracism of girls from schools only exacerbates the fears of the Afghan people that the Taliban may return to the hard-line rule of the 1990s. The characteristic of these five years is the only time in the history of modern Afghanistan that women and girls are prohibited by law from receiving education and employment.

In the month and a half since coming to power, the Taliban asked female government workers to stay at home, announced an all-male cabinet, closed the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and faced charges of harassment and abuse of female protesters. Country city.

Dangerous question

Education advocate Toorpekai Momand said that delays and Taliban actions have caused girls to have to face dangerous questions, “Why are the Taliban looking for trouble? Why are our rights denied?”

Momand has been a school administrator for 10 years. She is one of hundreds of women in Afghanistan and abroad who are working hard to ensure that the Taliban fulfill their promise to allow girls and women to return to schools and offices.

For many of these women, this struggle means dealing with life realities they deem unpopular but essential in Afghanistan, controlled by the Taliban.

Another education advocate, Jamila Afghani, said that the Afghan people have no choice but to try to contact the Taliban, especially when the international community refuses to recognize the organization.

“I didn’t bring them. You didn’t bring them, but they are here now, so we must keep working hard.”

But Afghans and Momand and dozens of others have personally experienced the difficulty of trying to get answers from the Taliban. When their colleagues met with officials of the Ministry of Education run by the Taliban, they were told that the organization was working “very hard” to comply with conservative norms in the education of girls.

Momand said that the Taliban are very careful in their wording, “They never just stand up and say’no’, they keep saying’we are working hard’, but we don’t know what they are doing.”

All the women interviewed by Al Jazeera said that in the 100 years since the Afghan government established official schools for girls, these institutions have adhered to religious principles. Primary and secondary schools are always gender-segregated, and the dress code is always in place.

In particular, Momand said that it is difficult for her to accept the Taliban’s religious reasoning about continuous waiting. She said: “In a girls’ school, everyone, including the cleaning staff, is a woman.”

Course changes

The Taliban also mentioned the review of the curriculum, which Afghans said may further delay the education of school children.

Afghani said: “Redoing the curriculum requires a lot of time and a very detailed understanding of the educational model.”

All sources interviewed by Al Jazeera agree that Afghans are skeptical of the Taliban’s actual understanding of the complexities of establishing an education system for 9.5 million schoolchildren.

Last month, the organization’s acting Minister of Education, Mawlawi Noorullah Monir (Mawlawi Noorullah Monir) said: “Without a doctorate, a master’s degree is very valuable today. You will see the Mullahs and Taliban in power. There are no PhDs, masters, or even high school degrees, but they are the greatest.”

The continued ostracism of girls from school will only exacerbate the fears of the Afghan people that the Taliban may return to the hard-line rule of the 1990s

For some, the prospect of the Taliban trying to reform the curriculum is particularly frightening.

The famous photographer Fatimah Hossaini, who taught courses at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Kabul University, said she was worried about the future of art courses under the leadership of the Taliban. She pointed out that even under the government of former President Ashraf Ghani, art is the least-funded discipline at Kabul University.

Once upon a time, Hossaini was the only female professor in a small college who had to use the most basic but often outdated equipment. Now, she is worried about what the department will look like under the leadership of the Islamic Emirate, because the Taliban refers to its government.

“They have already said that there will be no music in public. They keep going around in Kabul Cover mural. In 2001 they bombed the Buddha of Bamiyan. Do you think they will allow students to continue to study sculpture? “

Even if these plans are allowed to continue, Husseini fears that the Taliban will impose restrictions like the neighboring Iran, where she studied.

Husseini said that art needs “freedom” to flourish, but she worries that the Taliban will impose strict restrictions on self-expression.

“Most of my students, especially girls, are busy finding a way out,” said Husseini, who fled to France with thousands of Afghans who were worried about the return of Taliban rule. Husseini said that even those who stayed have an ominous premonition. She took a female student about to graduate as an example.

“She can’t let herself get her diploma and transcripts. She keeps saying,’I don’t want to have the mark of the Islamic Emirate on my diploma.'”

Female employment

Although Hossaini is no longer in the country, the women interviewed by Al Jazeera stated that the lives of tens of thousands of Afghan women have been put on hold because the plan to reopen all schools across the country has been shelved.

Masuda Sultan is an Afghan-American entrepreneur and activist who has also joined efforts to restart employment and education for women. She said that it is not just girls who are severely affected by the continued closure of secondary education for female students.

“In Afghanistan, more women are employed in education than in any other sector,” Sudan said.

UNICEF estimates that about one-third of Afghan teachers are women, and Momand and Afghani indicate that 150,000 people are employed in other areas of the education sector.

“For many families, teaching is the only job they let women do,” said the Sudan, referring to the country’s decades-long gender segregation practices in elementary and secondary education.

Because of this, Sudan said that all schools must be reopened across the country as soon as possible. “If you don’t hire these teachers, then we will fail the women of Afghanistan.”

Another education advocate, Afghan, agrees. For her, the comprehensive restart of girls’ education should be a priority for the international community, and the international community regards women’s rights as one of the reasons for the 20-year occupation led by the United States.

Afghans are concerned that the international community’s use of women’s rights as the basis of their occupation may have a lasting impact on how the Taliban views gender equality issues.

“They keep hearing foreigners talking about women’s rights, so in their view, women’s rights are closely related to the occupiers,” Afghani said.

Afghans believe that it is important for Afghan women not to give up the basic rights they have enjoyed for decades, such as access to education and employment.

Last week, Afghanistan and Momand held a press conference with a group of female educators, health workers and human rights activists to urge foreign donors to restart financial assistance to the country.

Due to the war, the Taliban launched an offensive to seize power, and more than 100,000 female teachers have not received salaries in the past two to three months.

“We have the opportunity to let women and girls in Afghanistan decide what happens in the country,” Afghanistan said.

Momand agreed, saying that the toughness and bravery of the Afghan girl was the driving force for her to continue working.

She said that Afghan girls “go to school in urban bombings, villages and regional fighting. Even if their schools are directly attacked, Afghan girls have never given up their education.”