256 days have passed since the closing of schools for girls over grade 6, and although the Islamic Emirate says it has recently formed a committee of nine people to work on reopening the schools for girls, there have been no details provided yet about the progress of the committee.
“The matter of reopening of the school is still being worked on. We are waiting to receive further details and we will share them with the media,” said Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.
The female student above grade expressed concerns over the closed schools.
“It has been a year since our schools were closed. We call on the Islamic Emirate to reopen our schools,” said Sapna, a student.
“We call on the Islamic Emirate to reopen our schools,” said Khatima, a student.
This comes as the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan, in an interview with News 18 sad that the “in the area of education, classes were stopped or suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic and now 85-90% classes have been resumed. The boys have been getting their regular education and in the case of girls, they are getting education until sixth [grade].”
The analysts said that the Islamic Emirate lacks a single view regarding the reopening of girls’ schools.
“There is no single view on the reopening of girls’ school within the Islamic Emirate,” said Hekmatullah Mirzad, a university instructor.
Over the past nine months, many gatherings of Afghan elites and Islamic scholars called on the Islamic Emirate to reopen the schools for female students above grade six.
More than 60 female students have graduated from a professional training center in Kabul.
Many young women turned to learning craft skills after the girls’ schools above grade six were closed.
The students meanwhile called on the Islamic Emirate to reopen the schools for female students in grade 7-12.
“The Islamic Emirate closed schools for the girls. We call on the Islamic Emirate to reopen the schools as soon as possible,” said Najiba, a student.
“We want our rights (education) under any kind of situation. We want to graduate from school or university as we did today,” said Aisha, a student.
The participants in the graduation ceremony also urged the current government to reopen schools for girls beyond grade six. “We hope the schools for girls be reopened soon and the officials of the Islamic Emirate pay attention to this,” said Samiullah Stanikzai, head of a people’s union in Arzan Kimat area of Kabul city.
