At least 1.4 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied access to secondary education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the UN cultural agency said on Thursday, with the future of an entire generation now “at risk”.
Access to primary education has also declined sharply, with 1.1 million fewer girls and boys attending school, as Taliban authorities mark three years since they recaptured Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, UNESCO said in a statement.
“UNESCO is concerned about the harmful consequences of this increasing drop-out rate, which could lead to an increase in child labour and child marriage,” the agency said.
“In just three years, the de facto authorities have virtually wiped out two decades of steady progress for education in Afghanistan, and the future of an entire generation is now at risk.”
Nearly 2.5 million girls are now deprived of their right to education, representing 80 percent of Afghan school-going girls, the UN agency said.
The Taliban administration, which is not recognised by any other country, has imposed restrictions on women that the United Nations has described as “gender apartheid”.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that prevents girls and women from attending secondary schools and universities.
“At least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since 2021, as a result of restrictions imposed by de facto authorities,” UNESCO said.
This represents an increase of 300,000 since the last count by the UN agency in April 2023.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay urged the international community to be proactive “to ensure the unconditional reopening of schools and universities for Afghan girls and women”.
The number of students in primary schools has also fallen. UNESCO said Afghanistan had only 5.7 million girls and boys in primary school in 2022, compared with 6.8 million in 2019.
The UN agency blames the decline on authorities’ decision to ban female teachers from teaching boys, and a lack of incentives for parents to send their children to school.
Enrolment in higher education is equally worrying, with the number of university students declining by 53 per cent since 2021, the statement said.
“As a result, the country will face a shortage of trained graduates for very high-skilled jobs, further exacerbating development problems,” UNESCO said.
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