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‘Reopen schools for Afghan girls’: US, allies slam Taliban
In a joint statement, the US, UK, Canada, France, Italy, Norway and the EU warned that the regime’s decision to keep girls away from schools will harm its prospects of legitimacy.
Condemning the Taliban’s decision to go back on its word of allowing secondary schools for girls in Afghanistan to resume, the United States and its allies on Thursday demanded that the Islamic movement allow such institutes to reopen. “The Taliban’s actions contradicted its public assurances to the Afghan people and the international community,” said a joint statement, signed by foreign ministers from the US, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy and Norway, as well high representative of the European Union.
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The regime’s decision will harm the group’s prospects of legitimacy and Afghanistan’s ambitions to become a respected member in the community of nations, the statement warned.
“The Taliban should, therefore, reverse this decision, which will have consequences far beyond harming Afghan girls. Every Afghan national, boy or girl, has an equal right to education at all levels,” the US and its allies noted.
To be sure, secondary schools for Afghanistan’s female students did reopen on March 23, as previously announced by the regime. However, within hours, it did a U-turn, ordering educational institutes to shut, leaving students ‘heartbroken.’ According to reports, the decision was taken on the eve of reopening of schools.
This was for the first time since last August, when the hardline movement captured power in the war-torn nation for a second time, that the secondary schools reopened for female students. After coming to power, the Taliban, which, during their previous rule, from 1996 to 2001, banned women from pursuing education, assured it will ‘protect the rights of women, children and minorities.’
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In September 2021, when schools reopened after being shut due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Taliban allowed girls, up to standard 6, to attend classes. Women, too, were allowed to visit universities. However, high schools for girls remained non-functional, with leaders assuring these would resume ‘at the earliest.’
(With agency inputs)
