Taliban ban girls from secondary education in Afghanistan
19 September 2021, 08:37 | Updated: 19 September 2021, 08:39
Girls have been excluded from the reopening of secondary schools in Afghanistan despite an earlier Taliban promise not to take the country back to the repressive days of the 1990s.
The country's rulers have replaced the women's ministry with an all-male "vice and virtue ministry" tasked with enforcing the group's rigid interpretation of Islam.
There are fears Afghanistan is returning to the harsh rule when a similar ban on girls' schooling was in place.
Former Commander of British forces in Afghanistan in 2003, Colonel Richard Kemp, told LBC News the Taliban had no intention of keeping their promise to let girls stay in education.
The Taliban have said they are yet to make a decision on whether to allow girls back into classrooms.
Its education ministry said secondary school classes for boys in grades seven to 12 resumed yesterday.
“All male teachers and students should attend their educational institutions,” a statement said.
The future of girls and female teachers was not addressed.
Afghanistan is the only country on earth to block half its population from getting a secondary education.
