More women and girls in Afghan are enrolling in madrasas, as the ban on secular schools continues.
Female students are seen at the Taalum-ul-Islam Girls’ Madrasa ‘religious school’ taking lessons.
With male teachers being forbidden from hearing the voices of female students in person, the students have to email questions to their lecturers.
According to Reuters, in the past year, the number of students at the institution has about doubled to around 400.
This increase is driven by the Taliban administration’s decision to ban girls and women from most secular high schools and universities.
Other female religious schools across Afghanistan have also seen marked increases in enrolment, Reuters learned.
“Due to the closing of schools, the number of students has increased by around 40%,” Mansour Muslim, who runs a madrasa mainly for teenage girls in north Kabul said.
“We now have around 150 students,” he adds.
The Taliban Regaining Power
The Taliban regained power in August 2021 after the sudden withdrawal of US-led forces.
Aiming at building an Islamic society based on sharia law following 20 years of comparatively liberal Western-backed rule, the Taliban has put several laws in place.
These laws include the ban on female education across Afghanistan.
Abdul Maten Qanee, the spokesman for the information ministry, told Reuters that the government was not opposed to girls having secondary and tertiary education.
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He, however, said there were several issues to be overcome, though, including the problem of some mixed-gender institutions, girls not meeting some interpretations of Islamic dress, and girls not being accompanied by male guardians.
He said: “We fought for 20 years for our ideology and values.
“We are not against education, we just want rules to be followed and implemented, and the culture, traditions and values of Afghans to be considered.
“We want females to have a modern education, society needs this,” he said.
The spokesperson noted that girls of all ages could attend madrasas.
He added that a government committee was looking into adding secular subjects to madrasas alongside religious study.
Last year, the Taliban slowly banned women’s education from high school to the University level.
