Taliban Leader Orders Ban on Girls' Education in Religious Schools

Photo: © Reuters / Al Arabiya

As part of the Taliban’s continued anti-women policies, religious schools are now also being closed to Afghan girls. Al Arabiya reported on Wednesday, August 20, that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered the gradual suspension of girls’ enrollment in religious schools.

According to the report, the order was issued during a recent Taliban meeting in Kandahar, where the group’s Ministries of Education and Higher Education were instructed to gradually stop registering girls in religious schools.

It is said that the reason behind this decision is Akhundzada’s concern over the teaching of “modern subjects” such as mathematics, languages, and natural sciences in religious schools — something he claims undermines the religious character of these institutions.

The Al Arabiya report also adds that the Kandahar meeting was highly contentious, with some Taliban members openly opposing their leader’s decision — a sign of growing division within the Taliban’s power structure.

This comes as human rights organizations, international bodies including the United Nations, and many countries have repeatedly condemned such actions by the Taliban, calling them a blatant violation of Afghan women’s fundamental rights.