As the world marked World Teachers’ Day on Sunday, the European Union praised the dedication and courage of Afghanistan’s educators — particularly women — while Taliban authorities barred schools from holding any events to commemorate the occasion.
The EU Delegation to Afghanistan said in a statement that it “honors the tireless efforts of all Afghan teachers and especially the courage of women teachers and students,” adding that “education for all is the key to a resilient and self-reliant Afghanistan with sustainable economic growth.”
World Teachers’ Day, celebrated annually on Oct. 5, is being observed this year under the United Nations theme “The teachers we need for the education we want.”
However, in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s Ministry of Education issued warnings to all public and private schools instructing them not to hold events for the day. Teachers across the country — especially women — say they face worsening conditions under Taliban rule.
Since the closure of girls’ secondary schools and restrictions on women’s employment, thousands of female teachers have lost their jobs. In July 2024, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered that salaries for female government employees, including teachers, be reduced to 5,000 afghanis (about $67) per month.
Female educators say the pay cuts and bans have left them struggling to survive.
“Today is Teacher’s Day, but our lives are harder than ever,” one teacher in Kabul told Amu. “My children are hungry. Under the previous government, teachers were not treated like this. Now, to feed my family, I wash clothes in people’s homes.”
Teachers in Kabul and several other provinces said Taliban officials appeared at some schools on Sunday to prevent any gatherings or commemorations.
A report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) last year said that before the collapse of the republic, Afghanistan had 226,000 teachers, including 81,000 women. Within the Taliban’s first year in power, they eliminated 14,000 government jobs held by women — 82 percent of them in the education sector.
