Article: # Girls Education in Afghanistan: Inside the Expansion of Religious Schools and What They Do Not Teach Us
Since the Taliban regained control in 2021, an estimated 2.5 million girls have been barred from formal secondary education, and religious schools have surged as the only option for female learning. This article explores the current state of girls’ education in Afghanistan under the Taliban, reveals the curriculum inside madrasas and the secular subjects they omit, examines societal and personal consequences of restricted schooling, details international responses and obstacles, and highlights future advocacy and alternative models. By uncovering what religious schools teach—and what they deliberately leave out—readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of the education crisis, the human rights implications, and the paths toward restoring fully inclusive learning opportunities for Afghan girls.
Impact of Taliban Policies on Girls’ Education
Since the Taliban’s resurgence in 2021, the education of girls in Afghanistan has been severely restricted, with many secondary schools closed and religious schools becoming the primary option. This policy shift has reversed decades of progress in women’s rights and access to education, significantly impacting families and limiting opportunities for higher education and employment.
H2: What Is the Current State of Girls’ Education in Afghanistan Under the Taliban?
Girls’ education in Afghanistan is now severely curtailed by the Taliban, whose decrees have closed most secondary schools for girls and confined many learners to religious settings. This drastic policy shift dismantles progress made over two decades and undermines women’s rights as fundamental human rights. For families across urban and rural areas, access to secular subjects has vanished, forcing girls into madrasas that focus almost exclusively on Islamic doctrine, which limits prospects for higher education and employment.
H3: How Has the Taliban’s Policy Changed Girls’ Access to Education?
The Taliban’s policy defines girls’ education as permissible only within gender-segregated religious schools, effectively outlawing co-educational secular institutions. Decrees issued in late 2022 mandated closure of girls’ secondary schools nationwide, citing moral concerns. As a result, girls above grade six face near-total exclusion from academic subjects like math and science. This policy not only violates Afghanistan’s international commitments but also erodes social mobility and women’s empowerment.
H3: What Are the Differences Between Religious and Secular Schools for Girls?
Religious schools (madrasas) center instruction on Quranic recitation, Hadith interpretation, and Islamic jurisprudence, whereas secular schools provided a broad mix of mathematics, natural sciences, history, and languages. The madrasa environment emphasizes spiritual formation and memorization, often in austere settings, while secular schools foster critical thinking, technical skills, and creativity. The absence of laboratory work, literature analysis, and arts in religious schools limits girls’ capacity to engage with modern professions.
Curriculum Differences in Afghan Schools
Religious schools in Afghanistan primarily focus on Islamic theology, including Quranic studies, Hadith, and jurisprudence, while secular schools previously offered a broader curriculum including mathematics, sciences, and languages. The emphasis on religious texts and memorization in madrasas contrasts with the critical thinking and skill development fostered in secular schools, limiting girls’ future opportunities.
H3: Which Afghan Regions Are Most Affected by School Closures and Restrictions?
In provinces under strict Taliban control, especially Helmand and Kandahar, female school closures exceed 90 percent. Urban centers like Kabul and Herat retain some loopholes for amateur religious classes, but remote areas face total shutdown. Enforcement varies by district, with conservative regions enforcing outright bans and others permitting informal Quran circles.
These disparities illustrate how geographic location dictates educational opportunities, setting the stage for examining what girls actually learn inside madrasas.
H2: What Curriculum Do Girls Receive in Afghan Religious Schools?
Madrasas for girls deliver a curriculum defined by Islamic theology, focusing on classical religious texts and spiritual practice. This instruction fulfills the Taliban’s definition of acceptable female education but omits core secular disciplines critical for workforce participation and societal development. Understanding this curriculum gap highlights the urgent need for comprehensive schooling.
H3: What Religious Subjects Are Taught in Madrasas?
Religious schools emphasize the following core subjects:
- Quranic Studies: Recitation (tajweed), memorization (hifz), and interpretation (tafsir).
- Hadith: Study of the Prophet’s sayings and practices across major collections (e.g., Sahih al-Bukhari).
- Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence): Rules of worship, personal conduct, and family law.
- Aqidah (Creed): Foundations of Islamic belief and theology.
These subjects reinforce faith identity and community values. Transitioning from this religious framework to modern professional roles remains a formidable challenge for madrasa-educated girls.
H3: Which Secular Subjects Are Excluded from Girls’ Religious Education?
Religious schools systematically exclude mathematics, natural sciences, history, geography, literature, and foreign languages. The absence of these subjects truncates girls’ academic development and critical reasoning.
H3: How Does the Daily Routine Look for Girls in Religious Schools?
A typical madrasa day begins with dawn prayers, followed by Quran study sessions and memorization drills. Mid-day lessons cover Hadith and fiqh, interspersed with prayer and moral lectures. The afternoon focuses on chanting and debate on religious texts, culminating in evening supplications. This schedule prioritizes spiritual formation over analytical inquiry.
H3: What Challenges Do Teachers Face in These Religious Schools?
Madrasa teachers navigate resource constraints, limited training in pedagogy, and ideological oversight by Taliban-appointed inspectors. With scarce textbooks and minimal teacher development, instructors rely on rote methods that reduce opportunities for dialogue and critical thinking. Security threats and social restrictions further complicate recruitment and retention of qualified female educators.
H2: How Does the Expansion of Religious Schools Impact Afghan Girls and Society?
Restricting girls to religious schooling widens gender inequality, perpetuates poverty cycles, and infringes on fundamental human rights. While some families welcome any learning option, the lack of comprehensive education undermines future prospects, mental well-being, and social cohesion.
H3: What Are the Personal Experiences and Aspirations of Girls Attending Religious Schools?
Many girls express gratitude for Quranic classes but lament the absence of mathematics and science, which they once enjoyed in secular settings. Aspirations to pursue medicine, engineering, or teaching abroad are stifled by curricular limitations. The contrast between religious devotion and professional dreams creates cognitive dissonance that weighs heavily on students’ morale.
H3: How Does Restricted Education Affect Women’s Rights and Human Rights in Afghanistan?
Denial of full education constitutes gender apartheid and violates international covenants such as CEDAW and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Education ban reinforces patriarchal control, restricts women’s autonomy, and normalizes discrimination, signaling that girls’ rights are negotiable political tools rather than universal entitlements.
H3: What Are the Long-Term Socio-Economic Consequences of Limited Girls’ Education?
When girls miss out on foundational subjects, their workforce participation plummets, perpetuating household poverty. Communities lose skilled teachers, health workers, and entrepreneurs. Mental health suffers as aspirations are thwarted, and national economic growth slows without half the population contributing innovation and labor.
H2: Who Is Responding to the Girls’ Education Crisis in Afghanistan?
International bodies and NGOs are mobilizing resources, but Taliban restrictions impose formidable barriers on assistance delivery. Humanitarian actors balance advocacy with security constraints, seeking creative pathways to preserve girls’ learning.
H3: What Roles Do UNICEF, the United Nations, and NGOs Play in Supporting Girls’ Education?
UNICEF facilitates emergency learning kits, radio-based literacy programs, and teacher training initiatives. The United Nations coordinates cross-agency appeals and policy dialogues, while NGOs provide community-based informal classes and safe study spaces. Together, they aim to sustain basic literacy and numeracy.
International Response and Challenges
International organizations like UNICEF and the UN are actively involved in supporting girls’ education in Afghanistan through various programs, including learning kits and teacher training. However, these efforts face significant challenges, including travel bans, security risks, and funding shortfalls, which hinder the scale and sustainability of educational initiatives.
H3: What Challenges Do Humanitarian Efforts Face Under Taliban Rule?
Aid agencies contend with Taliban-imposed travel bans, distrust of foreign organizations, and shifting decrees that can suspend programs overnight. Security risks for local staff, funding shortfalls, and lack of formal recognition hinder scale and sustainability of educational initiatives.
H3: How Are Diplomatic Efforts and Sanctions Influencing Education Policies?
International pressure, including targeted sanctions on Taliban leaders responsible for human rights abuses, aims to compel policy change on female education. Diplomatic engagement leverages aid conditionality, but effectiveness remains uncertain given the regime’s prioritization of ideological control over external incentives.
H2: What Are the Future Prospects and Advocacy Efforts for Girls’ Education in Afghanistan?
Despite severe restrictions, Afghan civil society, diaspora groups, and international advocates are proposing alternative models and pressing for policy revisions. Their efforts chart a roadmap toward restoring full educational access.
H3: What Alternative Education Models Are Being Proposed or Implemented?
Community-led home-school networks, online platforms hosted by diaspora teachers, and blended learning using solar-powered radios offer interim solutions. These models integrate secular subjects alongside Quranic instruction, fostering incremental curriculum expansion and pedagogical innovation.
H3: How Is Civil Society and the Afghan Diaspora Supporting Educational Change?
Afghan women’s associations in exile fund scholarships, develop digital libraries, and coach teachers in pedagogical methods. Diaspora professionals host remote mentoring, while grassroots activists lobby foreign governments to sustain pressure on the Taliban for education reversals.
H3: What Calls to Action Exist for the International Community?
Advocates urge sustained funding for informal education, public condemnation of bans, and conditional aid linked to girls’ school reopenings. They recommend targeted capacity-building for Afghan female educators and investment in digital infrastructure to circumvent physical restrictions.
Educating half of a nation revitalizes its economy, human rights record, and global standing. Reestablishing comprehensive schooling for Afghan girls will require unwavering international solidarity, innovative delivery models, and persistent advocacy to reverse policies that deny girls the knowledge they need.