Afghan girls will be allowed to take their high school graduation exams this week, an official and documents from the Taliban government indicated, Associated Press reported. This comes as girls have been banned from classrooms since the Taliban took over the country last year.
The report said that the decision applies to 31 out of Afghanistan's 34 provinces where the winter school break starts in late December.
Ehsanullah Kitab, head of the Kabul education department, said the exams would take place on Wednesday while one of the documents, from the Kabul education department, said the exams would last from 10 am to 1 pm.
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A second document, signed by Habibullah Agha, the education minister, said the tests would be held in 31 Afghan provinces. The three excluded provinces — Kandahar, Helmand and Nimroz — have a different timetable for the school year and high school graduation exams typically take place there later.
The Taliban took over control of Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. Despite promising a more moderate rule and women’s and minority rights, they have restricted rights and freedoms and widely implemented their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.
{{/usCountry}}The Taliban took over control of Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. Despite promising a more moderate rule and women’s and minority rights, they have restricted rights and freedoms and widely implemented their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.
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The Taliban has banned girls from middle school and high school, restricted women from most employment, and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks, gyms, and funfairs.
The students and their female teachers will all have to wear the hijab, or headscarf, under the Taliban dress code for women, and cellphones are banned during the exam, the report said. Girls who cannot attend or who fail Wednesday's exam would be allowed to retake the test in mid-March, after the winter vacation, the report added.