Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, at least 1.4 million Afghan girls have been banned from attending secondary school, placing the future of an entire generation in severe jeopardy, according to a statement released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Thursday.
UNESCO highlighted that access to education at all levels has plummeted, with 1.1 million fewer girls and boys now attending school. This decline marks a stark reversal from the educational progress made over the past two decades.
“UNESCO is alarmed by the harmful consequences of this increasingly massive drop-out rate, which could lead to a rise in child labour and early marriage,” the agency said, stressing the far-reaching impacts of these educational setbacks.
The Taliban, who marked three years of their rule on August 15, 2021, have imposed severe restrictions on women’s education and participation in public life, a move the United Nations has condemned as “gender apartheid.”
Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where girls and women are systematically denied access to secondary schools and universities.
UNESCO’s latest data reveals that nearly 2.5 million girls are now deprived of their right to education, representing a staggering 80% of Afghan school-age girls. This figure has risen by 300,000 since the previous count in April 2023, indicating the ongoing and worsening educational crisis in the country.
The head of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, called on the global community to remain steadfast in demanding that Afghan girls and women be allowed to return to schools and universities. “The international community must remain mobilized to obtain the unconditional reopening of schools and universities to Afghan girls and women,” she urged.
The situation for primary education is also dire. In 2022, only 5.7 million children, both girls and boys, were enrolled in primary school in Afghanistan, compared to 6.8 million in 2019. This decline, UNESCO stated, is partly due to the Taliban’s decision to prohibit female teachers from teaching boys, as well as a lack of incentives for parents to send their children to school.
The crisis extends to higher education as well, with the number of university students dropping by 53% since the Taliban’s return to power. UNESCO warned that this dramatic decrease will lead to a severe shortage of skilled graduates, further exacerbating Afghanistan’s development challenges.
“As a result, the country will rapidly face a shortage of graduates trained for the most highly-skilled jobs, which will only exacerbate development problems,” the statement said.