Afghan girls' school ban leaves fathers in despair

Afghan fathers are describing despair and uncertainty as the Taliban authorities' ban keeps their daughters from education beyond primary school.

Men interviewed across Afghanistan said the restrictions had left families searching for secret classes, home schooling or ways to leave the country. Their identities were protected.

Girls were barred from secondary schools in March 2022 after the Taliban authorities returned to power, and universities were closed to young women later that year. Officials say the ban is temporary and justify it under their interpretation of Islamic law.

UNESCO said Tuesday that an estimated 2.4 million girls have been excluded from secondary education since 2021 and called for their right to attend school to be restored immediately and unconditionally.

A UN survey last year found that nine out of 10 Afghan men questioned said it was important for girls to go to secondary school, with nearly two thirds considering it pious for a father to support his daughter's education.

One engineer said his wife, a secondary school maths professor, was no longer allowed to teach and that he feared his daughters would effectively be left “illiterate” if they stopped at sixth grade. He said clandestine courses in his northern city cost more than half his salary.

A doctor in Kabul province said he had looked at schooling in Pakistan and then at a private school teaching general subjects secretly, but feared officials could inspect it and take his daughters into custody.

Other fathers described home schooling, online courses and Quranic schools as limited ways to keep daughters learning and socially connected. Several said the emotional strain on their daughters and families was severe.