Afghan girls will be able to take their high school graduation exams this week, a Taliban government official and documents said Tuesday, even though they have been barred from classrooms since ex-insurgents took over the country last year. past.
According to two Taliban Education Ministry documents obtained by The Associated Press, the decision applies to 31 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces where winter school holidays begin at the end of December.
Ehsanullah Kitab, head of Kabul’s education department, said the exams will take place on Wednesday. He did not provide further details and it was not clear how many teens would be able to take the test.
One of the documents, from the Kabul education department, said the exams would last from 10 am to 1 pm A second document, signed by Habibullah Agha, the education minister who took office in September, said the exams would be held in 31 Afghan provinces. . The three excluded provinces, Kandahar, Helmand and Nimroz, have different schedules for the school year and high school graduation exams are usually held later.
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“This is ridiculous,” said Najela, 18, from Kabul, giving only her first name for fear of reprisals. She would now be in the twelfth grade and would be eligible for the exam. “We spent a whole year under tension and stress and we haven’t read a single page of our textbooks.”
Afghan girls attend a school in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 11, 2022. The Taliban announced on December 6, 2022 that Afghan girls will be able to take their high school graduation exams this week.
(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
“How can we do an exam after a year and a half that the Taliban have kept the doors of the schools closed?”
The Taliban invaded Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war. Although they initially promised a more moderate government and the rights of women and minorities, they have restricted rights and freedoms and widely implemented their harsh interpretation of Islamic or Sharia law.
They barred girls from attending middle and high school, restricted women from most jobs, and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also prohibited from entering parks, gyms and amusement parks.
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Women have not been denied access to universities under the Taliban and the implication of the latest development is that Afghan girls who earn a high school diploma after Wednesday’s exam will be able to apply to universities.
The principal of a Kabul secondary school said she was told that 12th grade girls will only have one day to take tests in 14 subjects, with 10 questions from each subject. The principal, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said most of the students did not have textbooks.
“Giving an exam doesn’t make sense,” he said.
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Students and their teachers will have to wear the hijab, or headscarf, according to the Taliban’s dress code for women, and cell phones are prohibited during the exam. Girls who are unable to attend or fail the Wednesday test will be able to retake the test in mid-March, after winter break.
The Taliban’s treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan has been the subject of strong criticism. Earlier this month, a UN team of experts said it could constitute a crime against humanity and should be investigated and prosecuted under international law, a charge rejected by the Taliban.
