There is only one place where half the world’s population does not have access to education. In August of 2021, the Taliban placed a ban on secondary education for women in Afghanistan, preventing women from furthering their educational development past a sixth grade level.
After the ban on secondary education for women in 2021, the Taliban assured the international community that the ban would be temporary. However, in March of 2022, they went back on their promise with no warning and with such force that many teachers had no choice but to remove the girls from their classroom.
As people say, history repeats itself. On Dec. 22, 2022, the Taliban placed a ban on higher education for women.
In an interview with Texas Public Radio (TPR) on Jan. 6, 2023, Zahra, a girl from Afghanistan, who preferred her last name to not be used, gave more insight to the situation.
Zahra told TPR that she was “shaking with anger.”
In the days before the life changing decision, the Taliban was still allowing women to take the university entrance exam to prepare for the following year, 2023.
Zahra commented on this saying, “The female students had their last exam tomorrow. But the Taliban closed the gates of university today.”
Many Afghanistan citizens are opposed to this ban including highschool teachers, well-respected elders , merchants and clerks affiliated with the group, as well as the girls themselves.
The day after the ban was enforced protests began. Girls took to the streets to protest for their rights to an education and two sisters in Afghanistan protested from their bedroom, singing a song titled “It’s time for you and I to fight shoulder to shoulder.”
On top of this, male students walked out of their final exams along with a small group of male professors that resigned. One professor in particular, Ismail Mashal, tore his degree on live T.V.
Non-government organizations (NGOs), such as the Malala Fund, have been working to spread awareness of the situation and have raised over 1 million dollars to help Afghanistan families with young girls immigrate and settle elsewhere.
The Malala Fund and many other NGOs are even more crucial than before. The ban has put an even bigger strain on the Afghanistan people not only emotionally but financially.
Countries, including China, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have called for trading embargoes on Afghanistan saying that they will remove the sanctions when Afghanistan allows girls in schools once again.
World leaders from around the world have been discussing and working towards finding solutions to the ban.
For many women, the dream of having a higher education is over. The world’s response is being awaited by Afganistan girls who are hopeful that international leaders will defend them now to allow their future.