Canada ‘deeply disappointed’ as Taliban close girls’ high schools

Canada is “deeply disappointed” after girls in Afghanistan showed up at their high schools on Wednesday morning only to be locked out and have their hopes for the future shattered once again by the Taliban, some said.

Millions of Afghan girls woke up thrilled to be returning to the classroom for the first time since the Taliban seized power in August, but many left in tears as news spread that the country’s new rulers had banned female students from attending school beyond Grade 6.

The Afghan television station TOLOnews aired interviews with teenage girls, tears pouring down their faces, as they found out the Taliban reneged on its promise to let them learn.

The Taliban-run Education Ministry promised schools would open this week for all students just days ago. It now says girls’ high schools will stay closed while officials work on a plan to reopen them “in accordance with Islamic law.”

“The start of the new school year has been anticipated by all students, girls and boys, and parents and families,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement. “The de facto authorities’ failure to reopen schools for girls above the sixth grade, despite repeated commitments, is a profound disappointment and deeply damaging for Afghanistan.”

Ensuring all Afghan girls can be educated is considered a central condition by the international community for foreign aid and any future recognition of the Taliban. The latest setback in girls’ education comes little more than a week before an international donor conference co-hosted by the United Nations to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis gripping Afghanistan.

Global Affairs Canada said the backtracking by the Taliban “contravenes their commitment to guarantee the right to education for all” and urged the Taliban to reverse the decision. “Access to education is a fundamental human right to which every woman and every girl is entitled.”