UNESCO: 2.4 Million Afghan Girls Barred from Secondary Education as Restrictions Continue
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\nThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said on Tuesday that the number of girls excluded from secondary schools has increased by approximately 200,000 over the past year. The agency warned that the figure could rise to nearly 4 million by 2030 if current policies remain unchanged.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where girls and women are banned from attending secondary schools and universities. The United Nations has described the wide-ranging restrictions imposed on Afghan women as a form of \u201cgender apartheid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Taliban authorities closed secondary schools for girls in March 2022 and later banned women from universities in December of the same year. The restrictions have drawn international criticism and calls from governments, human rights organizations, and Muslim-majority countries for the policy to be reconsidered.<\/p>\n
UNESCO also highlighted the impact of restrictions on female teachers, noting that the ban on women teaching boys has created serious challenges for Afghanistan\u2019s education system. The agency estimates the country could face a shortage of more than 11,000 qualified female teachers by 2030.<\/p>\n
Beyond gender-based restrictions, UNESCO said Afghanistan\u2019s education sector is facing broader challenges, including overcrowded classrooms, poor infrastructure, and limited access to basic facilities. Nearly half of the country\u2019s schools reportedly lack adequate water, sanitation, or heating, while natural disasters have forced the closure of around 1,000 schools in recent years.<\/p>\n
The agency also noted that more than 2 million children are currently out of primary school, while low literacy rates remain a major concern, with many 10-year-olds unable to read a simple text.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNESCO: 2.4 Million Afghan Girls Barred from Secondary Education as Restrictions Continue ———————————————– The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said on Tuesday that the number of girls excluded from secondary schools has increased by approximately 200,000 over the past year. The agency warned that the figure could rise to nearly 4 million by …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afghanistan"],"yoast_head":"\n