Malala expresses dismay over Taliban decision to close girls’ schools

LONDON: Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai expressed dismay after the Taliban ordered girls’ secondary schools in Afghanistan to shut down just hours after they reopened.

“I had one hope for today: that Afghan girls walking to school would not be sent back home. But the Taliban did not keep their promise,” she said on Twitter. “They will keep finding excuses to stop girls from learning – because they are afraid of educated girls and empowered women,”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Taliban’s decision to suspend high school for girls in Afghanistan was “a profound disappointment and deeply damaging for Afghanistan.”

“The denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls to education,” Guterres said in a statement. “I urge the Taliban de facto authorities to open schools for all students without any further delay.”

I had one hope for today: that Afghan girls walking to school would not be sent back home. But the Taliban did not keep their promise. They will keep finding excuses to stop girls from learning – because they are afraid of educated girls and empowered women. #LetAfghanGirlsLearn

— Malala (@Malala) March 23, 2022

The Taliban backtracked on their announcement that high schools would open for girls, saying they would remain closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law for them to reopen.

The u-turn took many by surprise, leaving students in tears and drawing condemnation from humanitarian agencies, rights groups and diplomats at a time when the Taliban administration is seeking international recognition.

Teachers and students from three high schools around the capital Kabul said girls had returned in excitement to campuses on Wednesday morning, but were ordered to go home, leaving many students left in tears.

The Ministry of Education had announced last week that schools for all students, including girls, would open around the country on Wednesday after months of restrictions on education for high school-aged girls. A notice on Wednesday said schools for girls would be closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture.

Suhail Shaheen, a senior Taliban member based in Doha, said the postponed opening of girls’ schools was due to a technical issue and the Ministry of Education was working on standardised uniforms for students around the country.

Many in the international community condemned the decision with the UN’s special envoy for Afghanistan formally conveying the organisation’s “grave concern and disappointment” to Taliban officials, according to a UN statement.

“For the sake of the country’s future and its relations with the international community, I would urge the Taliban to live up to their commitments to their people,” US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Tom West, said in a tweet.