Kabul August 11, : Over 400 schools that are private in Afghanistan have shut down due to a variety of reasons, including economic difficulties according to a local news source reported in an article published on Thursday. The TOLO News report citing Zabihullah Furqani who is an active participant of the Union of Private Schools, stated that many students had given up school due to poverty, and girls in the sixth grade to 12 are not able to be enrolled in classes due to the current restrictions, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
Zabihullah Mujahid the chief spokesperson of the Taliban-controlled administration has claimed that the ban on girls attending school has its roots in religious considerations.
The education ministry of the administration said that the closing of girls’ schools for girls beyond grade 6 is temporary and will be reinstated within the guidelines of Sharia, also known as Islamic law, in the future.
TOLO News quoted Mohammad Daud the former president of the Union of Private Schools, as declaring that thousands of people could lose their jobs with the closing of the schools.
Afghanistan has been facing severe economic difficulties since the US government froze more than $10 billion in assets of the central bank of the country in the aftermath of the 2021 August Taliban takeover.
According to the UNICEF estimates that 3.7 million kids are out of school in Afghanistan 60% of which are girls.
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