Afghanistan: About 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan are currently barred from attending secondary school, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The agency said the figure has increased by around 200,000 compared with last year and could approach four million by 2030 if the restrictions remain in place. Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls and women are prohibited from attending secondary schools and universities. The restrictions are part of a wider set of measures imposed on women and girls by the Taliban since the group returned to power following the withdrawal of US and allied forces.
Girls were excluded from secondary education in March 2022, while women were banned from universities in December of the same year. The restrictions have drawn widespread international condemnation, with the United Nations describing the broader system of restrictions as potentially amounting to gender apartheid. The education sector has also been affected by restrictions on female teachers.
The Taliban administration has barred women from teaching boys, contributing to a shortage of qualified teaching staff. UNESCO estimates that Afghanistan could face a deficit of more than 11,000 qualified female teachers by 2030.
The agency also highlighted wider challenges facing the country’s education system. Many schools remain overcrowded and poorly equipped, while nearly half lack adequate water, sanitation or heating facilities. Natural disasters have also forced around 1,000 schools to close over the past five years.
At the primary level, more than two million children are currently out of school. UNESCO said around 90 percent of 10-year-olds in Afghanistan are unable to read a simple text, contributing to a national literacy rate of only 37 percent.
UNESCO has urged the Taliban authorities to reverse restrictions on girls’ and women’s education, warning that continued exclusion could have long-term consequences for Afghanistan’s social and economic development.
The Taliban government has rejected international calls to reopen education to girls and women, including appeals from several Muslim-majority countries, maintaining that the policy is an internal matter.
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