Afghan boys shun schools as Taliban exclude girls from classes

Afghanistan’s young boys have taken a stand against the Taliban, who have not yet allowed girls to resume schooling but have allowed resumption of classes for boys in grades seven to 12.

Many boys have refrained from going to school in solidarity with the girls, reasoning that “women make up half the society”.

The Taliban took over the reins of Afghanistan, after capturing city after city last month as Afghan security forces trained by the US melted away and president Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

The grouping ran the country earlier in the late 1990s, when women were barred from attending school or working outside the home.

“Women make up half the society. I will not show up at school until girls’ schools are open too,” Rohullah, an 18-year-old student of Class 12, was quoted as saying in The Wall Street Journal.

“Girls study in the morning and boys in the afternoon. Male teachers teach boys and female teachers teach girls,” a teacher in Afghanistan said, according to the publication.

“Can I still be somebody if I only study to sixth grade?” an Afghan girl asks her father when she hears that the #Taliban aren’t reopening secondary schools for girls. Right now she dreams of becoming a pilot. #Afghanistan

— lyse doucet (@bbclysedoucet) September 19, 2021

There are fears that the new Taliban, though trying to project a moderate face, may ban secondary education for girls. But another report in CNN said the Taliban have denied claims that girls would be banned from secondary schools.

It quoted Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid as saying that women will be allowed to study but their government was working on creating a secure transportation system for girls in grades six to 12. “There are certain rules during their class time that must be obeyed that they could be safe and sound,” he reportedly said.

Not just schoolgirls, many female city employees have so far also been ordered to stay home by the Taliban.

Earlier this week, the Taliban declared that women would be allowed to study at universities, but would not be able to do so alongside men and would have a new dress code.

When they formed the government in Afghanistan earlier this month, the Taliban said the rights of women would be respected “within the framework of Islamic law”.

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