On the eve of the start of the new academic year, some members of the British Parliament asked the international community to discuss the reopening of girls’ schools in Afghanistan with the country’s current government.
“There are parts of the country where education is taking place both for the primary and secondary levels for girls, and it is job of the international community to try and persuade and argue with the Taliban administration, that what is happening in those particular areas should be extended across the whole country,” said Andrew Mitchell, UK Member of Parliament.
The closure of girls’ schools in Afghanistan has drawn criticism from some members of the British Parliament, who claim that so far, around 850,000 girls have been prevented from attending school.
“Since the fall of Kabul, some 850,000 girls have been prevented from attending school by the Taliban. Recently, people at St Matthew… primary school at Stratford undertook a whole school march in solidarity with the plight of Afghan girls denied an education. They have done all they can to raise awareness of this important issue, what more does the minister believe that his government can do to raise awareness of this ongoing travesty, and crucially, will he agree to bring forward a comprehensive Afghanistan strategy that takes into account the ongoing crackdown on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan?” Andrew Western, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom said.
This comes as Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the UN, and Qatar’s foreign ministry have stressed the need of supporting women’s rights in Afghanistan, particularly in the field of education.
“If girls’ schools are opened, Afghanistan will be recognized by the UN. The development aid of the World Bank will start, and the aid of the major Islamic countries will also start, otherwise it will not,” said Tariq Farhadi, a political analyst.
“We hope that the de facto authorities in Afghanistan will realize that an informed and progressive society requires educated and literate women and put an end to the waiting of Afghanistan’s citizens. Don’t pass up more opportunities, and open schools and universities to Afghan women and girls in the coming year,” said Maryam Marius Arwin, a women’s rights activist.
Girls’ secondary and high schools in Afghanistan have been closed for more than 540 days, and the fate of female students remains unclear.
