Taliban Revamp Afghanistan's Schools: What's Changing?

Afghanistan's Education System Under Taliban Rule

“The Taliban are currently focusing on expanding their religious schools, the madrassas; this is a development.”

Afghanistan's education system is on the brink of collapse under Taliban rule, with girls and women facing severe restrictions.

The Taliban has made drastic changes to Afghanistan's education system over the past three years, according to a report by the Afghan human rights organization Rawadari. Founded by Shahrzad Akbar, the former head of the Independent Commission of Human Rights in Afghanistan, Rawadari documents human rights violations in the country.

The Taliban's restrictions on education are alarming. Girls are banned from attending school beyond sixth grade, and women are barred from university education. Furthermore, topics related to human rights and women's rights have been removed from school and university curricula. The Taliban claims that issues like equality, liberty, elections, and democracy contradict their ideology.

These changes have significant implications for Afghanistan's future. The Taliban's emphasis on religious and ideological education may lead to a brain drain, as many professionals and young people seek comprehensive education abroad. The restrictions on women's education are particularly concerning, as they exacerbate existing inequalities and limit opportunities for half of the population.

The Taliban's overhaul of Afghanistan's education system goes beyond restricting women's education. They are also eliminating inclusive and non-discriminatory educational approaches, which are crucial in Afghanistan due to its diverse ethnic and religious minorities.

The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan's education system has had a profound impact on minority students. According to Rawadari, “Teaching in different mother tongues and covering subjects relating to religion, culture and history has been severely restricted for students from these minorities.”

Furthermore, the Taliban's restrictions have also disproportionately affected girls with disabilities. Rawadari noted that “Access to literacy and vocational training programs has also been severely restricted for girls with disabilities.”

Sardar Mohammad Rahimi, Afghanistan's former deputy minister of education, has revealed that the Taliban has made significant changes to the country's school textbooks. “The Taliban have removed a lot of content from school textbooks,” Rahimi stated.

Rahimi, who now lives in exile in France and works as a visiting professor at INALCO University in Paris, believes that the Taliban lacks the capacity to create new content. “The Taliban do not yet have the capacity to create new content,” he explained. Furthermore, Rahimi noted that the Taliban faces significant challenges in redesigning and publishing new curricula. “They lack both the experts and the technical means to completely redesign and publish curricula,” he said. According to Rahimi, it would take the Taliban around five years to fundamentally transform the education system.

The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan has led to a significant brain drain, with many intellectuals and academics fleeing the country. This exodus has been exacerbated by the Taliban's dismissal of numerous lecturers and professors from schools and universities over the last three years. These educators have been replaced by graduates of religious schools, known as madrassas, who adhere to the Taliban's ideology.

According to Sardar Mohammad Rahimi, who served as Afghanistan's deputy minister of education until the Taliban took over, the Taliban are focusing on expanding their religious schools. “The Taliban are currently focusing on expanding their religious schools, the madrassas; this is a development,” Rahimi said. These madrassas promote a strict interpretation of Islam and aim to ensure that the Taliban's view of Islam is passed down to the next generation.

The Taliban's control of the education system has also led to a rejection of women's and human rights. The Islamist rulers have banned girls from attending school beyond sixth grade and have restricted women's access to education and employment. The Taliban's actions have been widely condemned by human rights organizations and the international community.

The Taliban's extremely conservative interpretation of Sunni Islam has led to a rigid social order that rejects women's rights and human rights. They believe in applying Sharia law in all areas of life and view the Western world as a harmful influence on Islamic society.

Since regaining power in 2021, the Taliban has reversed two decades of progress made in Afghan women's rights. Women are now prohibited from showing their faces in public or speaking out. Human rights organizations like Amnesty International have reported numerous cases of Afghan women and girls facing brutal punishments for alleged “un-Islamic behavior.” These punishments include imprisonment, sexual violence while in custody, and public floggings.

The Taliban's restrictions have also led to a surge in child, early, and forced marriages. Many girls who are no longer allowed to attend school are being forced into marriage. According to Amnesty International, the economic and humanitarian crisis, lack of educational and professional prospects for women and girls, and families' perceived need to protect their daughters from marriage with Taliban members have all contributed to this alarming trend.

The situation is dire, with women protesters facing arbitrary arrest, detention, and torture. The Taliban has also systematically released detainees convicted of gender-based violence offenses, leaving survivors with nowhere to turn. The international community must take concrete steps to pressure the Taliban to change their policies and protect the rights of Afghan women and girls.

Maryam Marof Arwin, an Afghan women's and human rights activist, has strongly condemned the Taliban's treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan. “The Taliban have turned the country into a hell of structural oppression and systematic violence against Afghan women and girls,” she told DW in a scathing critique of the Taliban's policies.

Arwin has warned of the severe consequences of criminalizing women, citing the Taliban's laws that impose far-reaching restrictions on women and girls. These laws require women to cover their faces and bodies in public and prohibit them from speaking out. The Taliban has also established a moral police force, comprised of young men who monitor women's behavior and enforce the rules.

Rahimi emphasizes the urgent need for a coordinated plan to provide online education to all Afghan school children. "We urgently need a coordinated plan for online education for all Afghanistan school children," he stated. Rahimi highlights the importance of coordinating foreign-led projects that support girls' education, particularly those with no access to secondary schools. “There are numerous foreign-led projects that currently support girls, in particular, who have no access to secondary schools, with teaching materials. If these projects were better coordinated, they could make a significant contribution to the education of all Afghanistan children.”