The Taliban's War on Girls' Education

Image sources: AFP, via Al Jazeera & Wikipedia

Writer: Tamim Attaiy– Afghan Journalist in Exile

From Closing Schools to Shutting Down Girls’ Religious Schools

Nowhere in the modern world, except for Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, has education faced such all-out and relentless hostility. Since the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, the Taliban have systematically and gradually shut the doors of education on girls: first middle and high schools, then universities, and now even girls’ religious schools, which they themselves once introduced as a “Sharia-compliant” alternative to modern education.

This trend shows that the Taliban's policy is not just about restricting modern education, but about the absolute elimination of knowledge and silencing any form of literacy and awareness for women. They have gradually closed all possible channels for girls to access knowledge so that no window remains for the development of independent thinking.

According to Al Arabiya Farsi’s report, last week, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s leader, ordered at a cabinet meeting in Kandahar that all girls’ religious schools be shut down. His reason was both shocking and alarming: in these schools, along with the Quran and Hadith, subjects such as science, mathematics, and language were also being taught; fields of knowledge that the Taliban leader described as “dangerous” for Afghan girls.

This stance not only reveals the extent of the Taliban’s prejudice and hostility toward girls' education but also reflects a deeper fear: the Taliban fear knowledge more than anything else; knowledge that can lead to questioning, empowerment, and liberation. Closing the doors of schools and universities was not enough; even limited religious education must be so stripped of any element of knowledge that the Afghan woman ultimately remains only a tool for obedience and reproduction.

Ideologization Instead of Education

The Taliban and the Death of Free Education in Afghanistan

The Taliban have not only closed schools; they are seeking to completely change the nature of education. This group, by rewriting textbooks, removing social and natural sciences, and replacing them with extremist religious interpretations, has turned education into a tool for reinforcing their ideology.

In schools known as “Jihadi” schools, children learn suicide slogans and militant teachings instead of math and chemistry. These educational centers have turned into small military camps that produce obedient fighters instead of nurturing citizens.

For girls, the situation is even worse. In religious schools, they are indoctrinated with the idea that “a woman is created only for obedience and reproduction.” Such brainwashing destroys girls’ freedom and identity at the root.

In reality, Taliban-run schools are no longer educational institutions; they are factories of brainwashing where thought, questioning, and intellectual freedom are suppressed. The result of such a process is the upbringing of a generation that is not creative and inquisitive, but captive to ideology and the cycle of violence.

The Taliban’s Ongoing Hostility Toward Women’s Education

The past four years have clearly shown that the Taliban are not merely against the form or structure of education, but against the very existence of women in the realm of knowledge and society. In the Taliban worldview, a woman is not an independent human being with inherent rights, but a tool for reproduction, servitude, and obedience to men.

This hostility is so deep that even the acceptance of all strict conditions and restrictions has not been enough to open a path to education for girls. They agreed to observe full Islamic hijab, to sit in separate classrooms, and to study under the direct supervision of Taliban-appointed teachers and administrators. Yet, even so, the gates to schools and universities remained closed to them. This reality shows that the Taliban's issue is not with the “form” of education, but with the very “right to know” for women.

In the Taliban system, women have been eliminated from all spheres of social life:

• From education, which is the key to awareness and empowerment

• From work and the economy, which enable financial independence and participation in production

• From politics and decision-making, which could bring their voices into the structures of power

• And even from the simple right to travel without a male guardian, which guarantees personal autonomy

Among all these restrictions, education has become the main symbol of the systematic erasure of women. The Taliban have realized that knowledge is the greatest threat to the survival of their ideology, because a woman who reads and learns can no longer remain blindly obedient. That is why the Taliban’s war on women’s education is, in fact, a war against thought, questioning, and freedom.

The Taliban’s Clear Contradiction

The recent decision by Mullah Hibatullah to shut down girls’ religious schools once again exposed the deep contradiction within the Taliban. Over the past four years, the group repeatedly claimed that they had no objection to “Islamic and Sharia-compliant” education for girls and that their problem was only with “Western and non-religious” education. They even justified the closure of schools and universities by saying that, instead, Islamic education would be provided for girls.

Now, however, the truth has become clear: the Taliban could not tolerate even their own self-made alternative. The order to close girls’ religious schools shows that the problem for this group lies not in the type or content of education, but in the very principle of education for women. In other words, the Taliban are at odds with every form of women’s learning; whether modern or religious.

This clear contradiction deals a major blow to the legitimacy of the Taliban’s claims. With this action, they demonstrated that their promises were nothing but deceptive tactics meant to calm public opinion. The decision to ban even religious education for girls proves that the Taliban fundamentally view educated women as a threat to the survival of their ideology.

In reality, for the Taliban, a woman must remain in her traditional and restricted position: within the four walls of the home, obedient to men, and without any need for knowledge that could lead to intellectual and social independence. The closure of girls’ religious schools is the final act in this contradictory show, exposing clearly that the Taliban have never believed in women’s education and never will.

A Ray of Light in the Heart of Darkness

Although this decision is yet another blow to the right to education for Afghan girls, it carries within it a positive point: girls will now be safe from Taliban brainwashing in these schools. This limited opportunity can lead families and girls toward alternative paths — secret courses, online education, and civil society initiatives.

As a result, the closure of girls’ religious schools is part of a broader policy: erasing women from Afghan society. By banning schools, universities, and now even religious education, the Taliban have condemned half the population of the country to illiteracy and isolation.

But history has shown that no power can silence the thirst for knowledge. Afghan girls, despite threats and suppression, continue to study in secret and online classrooms. The Taliban can close the doors, but they cannot destroy the desire to learn.