MONITORING (SW) – A high level meeting of religious scholars is set to deliberate on ways and means to reopen the girls’ schools.
Aziz Ahmad Ryan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education, did not provide details about the exact time of the meeting, but said it would be held in Kabul soon.
He described the meeting as fruitful and added that girls ‘attendance at the school was religious and traditional, which is why religious scholars were finalizing the plan to reopen girls’ schools by setting new conditions and in accordance with Islamic law.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Education expressed hope that the girls’ schools above the sixth grade would resume operations after the meeting.
But, education expert Morteza Khalili believes that educating girls does not require a religious debate, and that the Islamic Emirate should open the gates of schools to girls without any pretext.
“This has no religious aspect and does not need the ‘fatwas’ of the ulema. This is a human issue, the Islamic Emirate itself knows this. We hope that this problem will be resolved under the pretext of the Ulema meeting.”
Siddiq Patman, another education expert, also stressed that the meeting should not be held only with the participation of scholars from the Islamic Emirate, and that other religious scholars should also be present.
Petman added that the meeting should emphasize the need to reopen schools; “Not that they decide to close schools and put the country in national and international isolation.”
The religious scholars in a number of provinces have previously demanded that girls be allowed to continue their education by the Islamic Emirate.
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