Girls walk upstairs as they enter a school before class in Kabul, Afghanistan
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has expressed deep concern over Afghanistan’s announcement of a gradual reopening of secondary schools only for boys and their male teachers, leaving girls and women behind.
UNESCO said that if this ban is upheld, it will be a significant violation of the fundamental right of girls and women to education. UNESCO called on those responsible for the announcement to clarify the situation and reopen schools for all Afghan students, boys and girls alike.
UNESCO has warned that there will be irreversible consequences if girls are not allowed to return to school swiftly at all levels of education. In particular, girls’ delayed return to secondary school may put them at risk of being left behind in education and eventually life.
This increases the risk of being dropped out of education altogether and exposes them to negative coping mechanisms such as child marriage. This can further exacerbate learning inequalities between boys and girls, and ultimately hinder girls’ access to higher education and life opportunities.
UNESCO said, “Our commitment to Afghan children is clear, and our collective responsibility is to ensure that the fundamental right to education is fully realized for each of them.”
According to a report, Afghanistan has made significant progress in education especially for girls and women in the last twenty years. Since 2001, the female literacy rate has almost doubled from 17 percent to 30 percent; The number of girls in primary school increased from almost zero in 2001 to 2.5 million in 2018. The number of girls in higher education increased from about 5,000 in 2001 to around 90,000 in 2018.
The percentage of female teachers increased from 27 percent in 2007 to 36 percent in 2018. Yet these important gains for the country’s development are at risk if girls return to school late.
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