Government urged to reopen girls’ schools, universities

KABUL (Pajhwok): On the International Day of Education, some girls have asked the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) government to reopen girls’ school and universities.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.

This day is being celebrated in different countries at a time when during post IEA take over for the second time in Afghanistan girls above class sixth are barred from getting education.

Habibiah, 23, from the Kabul’s 13^th Police District, said: “It’s been a year since we stayed at home, we want the IEA to open the gates of universities for girls.” She was a third year midwifery student at Kabul Medical University.

Habibia added that she wished to serve women after her higher education is completed and was even willing to go to remote and deprived parts of the country because there were fewer female doctors and midwives in remote parts of the country

Nahid Qalandari, the student of Mashal University’s Economic Faculty, said: “A year passed and we are still not allowed to go to university, the ban on us going to universities hurts me a lot.”

She said education was girls right and added: “I go to sleep every night with the hope that maybe tomorrow I will hear good news that our universities will reopen, but days pass but there is no news of reopening.”

“I and other girls want to study while observing the Islamic hijab, we girls want the Islamic Emirate to open the gates of universities and schools for us and end this bitter wait,” she demanded the IEA.

School girls share similar views.

Madina, the student of class 8th at one of private schools in Kabul said: “We are not going to school for more than two years and it is not clear when the schools will open for us.”

After ban on schools, she is now studying at one of religious school in Kabul City.

Madina also asked the IEA to reopen schools for girls.

Yalda, the ninth class student of Qala-i-Zaman Khan’s Girls School, was worried about the ban on girls schools and said: “If our schools were not banned, I would have now graduated, two year of our life went in vain.”

She also asked the IEA to reopen school on girls.

On the International Day of Education, UN Envoy to Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva has urged access to education for all.

In her message on this day, she said: “The ongoing denial of education for all women and girls is not sustainable.”

This comes that IEA officials repeatedly said that ban of girls’ education was temporary and the decision would be reversed once suitable environment for girls education is provided.

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