Afghanistan: 1.4 million girls still banned from school by de facto authorities

Three years after the de facto authorities took power, Afghanistan stands out as the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly forbidden to girls and women. According to new UNESCO data published on Thursday, 1.4 million Afghan girls have been deliberately deprived of schooling. Access to primary education has also fallen sharply, with 1.1 million fewer girls and boys attending school.

"Today, Afghanistan is the only country in the world to prohibit access to education for girls over the age of 12 and for women. This situation must concern us all," said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO. "The right to education cannot be negotiated or compromised. The international community must remain fully mobilized to obtain the unconditional reopening of schools and universities to Afghan girls and women", she said.

Three years to the day after the fall of Kabul, UNESCO publishes new data that testify to the gravity of the educational situation in Afghanistan. As a result of bans imposed by the de facto authorities, at least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since 2021. This represents an increase of 300,000 since the previous count carried out by UNESCO in April 2023 – with more girls reaching the age limit of 12 every year.

If we add the girls who were already out of school before the bans were introduced, there are now almost 2.5 million girls in the country deprived of their right to education, representing 80% of Afghan school-age girls.

In just three years, the de facto authorities have almost wiped out two decades of steady progress for education in Afghanistan, and the future of an entire generation is now in jeopardy.

An equally strong impact on primary education

Although girls' education is still permitted under the age of 12, the number of pupils enrolled in primary education has also fallen drastically since 2021. According to new UNESCO data, Afghanistan had only 5.7 million girls and boys in primary school in 2022, compared with 6.8 million in 2019.

This drop in primary school enrolment is the result of the de facto authorities' decision to prohibit female teachers from teaching boys, exacerbating the teacher shortage. It can also be explained by parents' lack of incentive to send their children to school, in an increasingly difficult socio-economic context. UNESCO is alarmed by the harmful consequences of this increasingly massive drop-out rate, which could lead to a rise in child labor and early marriage.

The figures are also very concerning in higher education, with a decrease by half (53%) of the number of students enrolled in universities since 2021. As a result, the country will rapidly face a shortage of graduates trained for the most highly-skilled jobs, which will only exacerbate development problems.

UNESCO is mobilized to support alternative learning methods

Since 2021, in addition to leading international advocacy for the return of Afghan girls and women to school, UNESCO has been working with its partners to develop alternative modes of learning. To provide Afghan girls and women with learning prospects despite these difficult conditions, the Organization has set up programs based on the involvement of local communities in 20 of the country's provinces.

Over 1,000 facilitators, including 780 women, have been trained to deliver literacy courses. These courses have already benefited over 55,000 young people, the vast majority of them girls, in almost 1,900 villages. But the task remains immense, given the number of young people who are out of school.

UNESCO is also active in neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Tajikistan and Iran, providing support for Afghan refugees and displaced populations, including through training centers for Afghan teachers.

Finally, UNESCO also invests in distance learning via radio and television, providing financial support and training to Afghan media wishing to develop and broadcast educational programs. This is the case, for example, of the Begum Organization for Women, which founded a radio station in March 2021, followed by a cable channel in March 2024. The content broadcast by UNESCO's media partners has reached an estimated audience of 17 million Afghans.

While these alternative modes of learning have the merit of contributing to the resilience of Afghan youth, UNESCO recalls that nothing can replace face-to-face education in a classroom. This is why the Organization, through the voice of its Director-General, calls on the international community to maintain its mobilization for the full restoration of the right to education for girls and women in Afghanistan.

·       Read the press release online