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Tribal elders in Nimroz province of Afghanistan called out the Taliban to reopen schools for girls above the sixth grade and said that depriving young girls of education is not in the interest of the country, TOLO news reported.
After the Taliban took control in August last year, the high schools in Afghanistan opened their gates to boys whereas the Taliban ordered girls to stay at home. Condemning the situation, a tribal elder Abdul Raouf said "They are concerned about what will happen to their future and where it will lead. They say: look at other nations and how much they've progressed, and then look at us and where we are now." Moreover, Nimroz's eighth-grade student, Nazanin expressed concern about her future as a result of the closing of girls' schools, TOLO news reported. "From the bottom of my heart, I miss my classmates. To be able to attend classes alongside our classmates, I want the school to be open for us," Nazanin told TOLOnews. "We ask the Islamic Emirate to open the schools to us," said Iqlima, another student. In the meantime, members of the Nimroz provincial education department stated that they are awaiting the Islamic Emirate leader's directive to reopen female schools. "We are ready to reopen schools anytime the directive is given," said Gul Ahmed Haqqani, director of education in Nimroz, reported TOLO news. Several human rights and education activists had urged world leaders in an open letter recently to mount diplomatic pressure on the Taliban to reopen secondary schools for girls in the war-torn country as the Taliban's brutal regime in Afghanistan will soon complete a year in August. World leaders, regional allies, and international organizations were urged in the letter to take serious actions to fulfil their commitments in order to promote and protect Afghan girls' rights, especially the right to education which was snatched away from them after the Taliban-led Afghan government banned the education for girls in classes 6 and above. Taliban has imposed draconian restrictions on women and girls' rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and movement. The Taliban's decision to ban female students above grade six from school has drawn widespread criticism at the national and international levels. Further, the Taliban regime which took over Kabul in August last year has curtailed women's rights and freedoms, with women largely excluded from the workforce due to the economic crisis and restrictions. As a result, women and girls in Afghanistan are facing a human rights crisis, deprived of the fundamental rights to non-discrimination, education, work, public participation and health. (ANI)
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