Taliban and female education in Afghanistan

Taliban authorities closed down girls schools above the sixth grade in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province on Saturday, according to witnesses and social media posts.

Following a recommendation from tribe elders and school principals, the schools momentarily opened. Four girls schools above grade six in the provincial capital of Gardez and one in the Samkani region started operating earlier this month without official approval from the Taliban Education Ministry.

According to social media posts, dozens of distraught former students protested on Saturday in the streets of Gardez, some wearing full-body burqas and others wearing school uniforms and white veils.

Gardez resident Mohammad Sediq expressed his disappointment at the Taliban for closing the girls schools, saying he was very pleased that his two sisters could attend school.

Teenage girls are still not allowed to attend school in Afghanistan one year after the Taliban seized power, and women must cover completely from head to toe when they are out in public, with the exception of their eyes. Despite initial assurances to the contrary, the Taliban-led administration implemented harsh limitations on access to school and jobs for girls and women due to the influence of hard-liners.