PESHAWAR: Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban said all girls’ schools and universities will be reopened in Afghanistan next year.
Addressing a gathering of Afghan Shiites in Kabul, Mujahid said that the Islamic Emirate was trying to establish a mechanism in the light of “Islamic teaching and national principle” before allowing women to continue their education and work in offices.
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Mujahid added: “We assure our sisters that their educational institutions will start soon. The Islamic Emirate is trying to create a mechanism in line with Islamic and national principles for this purpose”. Jafar Mahdavi, an Afghan Shiite leader, also told the gathering that next year would see the reopening of schools for girls above the sixth grade.
Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on 15 August, female educational institutions above 6th grade are shutdown. The Taliban reopened boys’ school on September 17 but did not allow girls above the sixth grade to attend schools, sparking widespread international outcry. The Taliban has insisted it is working on a procedure to create a “safe learning environment” before the girls return to schools.
Earlier, some international organizations had announced the opening of schools for girls up to sixth grade in five Northern provinces. The international community, even after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, insisted that Afghan women be allowed to work and get education. The international community has declined to recognise the Taliban until they allow women to continue education and have complete freedom.
Earlier, Wahidullah Hashemi, director of programs and foreign aid at the Taliban’s Ministry of Education, told Reuters that the Taliban were committed to educating girls and were now working to bring girls them back to school. He added that no teachers had been fired and that “this is a positive message to the world that we are working on a mechanism. We are not working to eliminate women schools and universities.”