UNESCO warns Afghan girls remain barred from secondary education as numbers rise

UNESCO has said about 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan are currently barred from secondary school, renewing pressure on the Taliban administration over its restrictions on female education. The agency said the figure has risen by 200,000 since last year and could reach four million by 2030 if the policy is not reversed. Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls and women are prevented from attending secondary schools and universities.

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The latest warning was issued on Tuesday and comes as the Taliban continues to enforce a ban first imposed in March 2022 on girls' secondary education. Women were later barred from universities in December 2022, after the Taliban returned to power following the end of the US and allied military presence. UNESCO also said the administration has banned women from teaching boys, a move it says has removed qualified staff from the system and left many boys with untrained male teachers.

The agency said the education restrictions are compounding wider problems in Afghanistan's school system and economy. It said many schools are overcrowded and poorly equipped, while nearly half lack water, sanitation or heating. UNESCO also said natural disasters have forced about 1,000 schools to close in the past five years.

At primary level, more than two million children are out of class, and the agency said 90% of 10-year-olds cannot read a simple text, with national literacy at 37%. The figures underline the scale of the long-running dispute between the Taliban and international organisations over girls' education. The UN has previously accused Afghanistan of what it calls gender apartheid, reflecting the breadth of restrictions placed on women and girls since the Taliban's return.

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The issue also carries wider implications for the country's future workforce, literacy levels and access to trained teachers, especially as the number of girls excluded from education continues to grow. UNESCO said the projected shortfall of qualified female teachers could exceed 11,000 by 2030 if current policies remain in place. The Taliban government has rejected repeated international calls, including from some Muslim-majority governments, to lift the ban and has described the policy as an internal matter.

What remains unclear is whether the administration will alter its position, and whether the growing international criticism will lead to any change in access for girls and women. For now, the restrictions remain in force and the number of children affected continues to rise.

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