KABUL— A UN-backed fund, Education Cannot Wait, has said that 300,000 Afghan girls are barred from education annually due to Taliban restrictions, adding that the number of girls deprived of schooling has already reached 1.5 million and will soon rise to millions if the ban continues.
It described the Taliban’s rule as a “dysfunctional regime” that not only denies girls the right to education but also prevents half the population from contributing to the country’s reconstruction.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have systematically targeted women and girls, issuing successive decrees that have banned them from education, employment, and public spaces.
“Today, 1.5 million Afghan girls are banned from attending secondary school because of restrictions imposed by the Taliban. Every year, this number increases by 300,000, and soon it will reach millions,” said Yasmine Sherif, executive director of Education Cannot Wait, a UN-backed global fund for education in emergencies.
“This ban has had a devastating impact on girls’ education and women’s empowerment, preventing them from becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers, and nurses,” Sherif added.
Sherif also pointed to growing internal rifts within the Taliban over policies, including education.
“These divisions have always existed, but they were hidden because the Taliban didn’t want to expose their weaknesses to the world,” she said. “Now, the cracks are widening and becoming impossible to conceal. Some members are even fleeing the country because of these conflicts.”
Despite Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada’s orders banning girls from schools, Afghan women and girls continue to resist.
“They took away our education and our jobs, but they couldn’t stop our fight,” said one Kabul resident.
Women’s rights activists describe the Taliban’s policies as gender apartheid and institutionalized discrimination.
“We are not victims—we are the leaders of this revolution,” said Hoda Khamosh, a women’s rights activist. “We reject oppressive, misogynistic laws and will continue to protest against them.”
Under Taliban rule, the future of girls’ education remains uncertain. With each passing day, a new generation falls further behind, deprived of its most fundamental right—the right to learn.
