KABUL (SW) – Despite no action by the Islamic Emirate authorities to reopen the schools above the grade six, girls are not giving up on their fundamental right to education.
Even though, every day more and more citizens want the Islamic Emirate to end the deprivation of girls from education, the Islamic Emirate has not yet shown any signs of falling short of this approach. There has been growing demand from various parts of the country for the girls’ right to education.
Not long ago, when Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, was on an official visit to Herat, the request to reopen the schools for girls was raised to the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate by one of the cultural activists of this province on behalf of the residents of Herat. This request was also presented to Sirajuddin Haqqani, Acting Minister of Interior Affairs, by one of the activists of this province.
Acting Minister of Interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani, responded to this request in Nangarhar and said that he will share it with the leadership of the Islamic Emirate. Of course, before this, the Acting Minister of Interior Affairs said in a speech in Khost that efforts to reopen schools for girls are continuing. However, the spokesmen of the caretaker government have remained silent regarding the fate of girls’ schools above the sixth grade and are not ready to express any opinion in this regard.
Although, since the closing of schools for girls, the Islamic Emirate has been asked to withdraw from this decision. But the Islamic Emirate not only did not backtrack from its position against these demands, but also increased the restrictions against women and girls in the country; an approach that has turned the hopes of reopening schools for girls into disappointment.
Hasna Raofi, a women’s rights activist, said: “We witnessed when it was said that schools would be opened for girls, we saw that universities were closed to girls, and when it was expected that universities would be opened for them, women were banned from working in non-government organisations. Unfortunately, after the imposition of any restrictions, rumors are spread that work is going on to open schools for girls, but it was all rumors.”
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently announced that at least 118 million girls around the world, including Afghanistan, are deprived of education.
Recently, there have been reports from some provinces that it is said that even girls over 10 years of age and girls who are relatively tall are prohibited from going to schools.
The more the misery of schools on girls and their deprivation of education is prolonged, the more the concerns regarding their future are highlighted.
Susan Khaliqyar, another women’s rights activist, said: “There is a difference between what the Islamic Emirate promises and what it does. It has never implemented its words and every day the restrictions against women are increasing. This situation will make the future of women and girls more worrying.”
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