The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has raised his concern about the closure of schools for girls above the sixth grade in Afghanistan, calling it “unjustifiable”, and a violation of women’s rights.
The UN chief, Guterres, raised alarm over the closure of the schools for Afghan girls, stating that the girl’s inability to access education would be detrimental to the country and its future.
“Girls belong in school,” wrote Guterres in a tweet on Saturday, September 3.
The UN Secretary-General maintains that girls in Afghanistan are still barred from attending school.
Afghan girls locked out of the classroom is a breach of equal rights, which in the opinion of Guterres “damages” the entire country.
Earlier, the officials from the Ministry of Education of the Taliban administration claimed that the group is working on a plan to reopen the schools.
They maintained that the decision to close girls’ schools above the sixth grade above is “temporary” and not “permanent.”
According to the spokesperson for the Taliban Ministry of Education, the ministry has made “adequate” efforts in this area, but some procedures take years to complete and the issue with schools cannot be resolved quickly.
Despite the Taliban’s commitment to reopen schools for girls, since the group took control of Afghanistan in August of last year, Afghan girls are still not permitted to attend school past the sixth grade.
