Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the Taliban takeover. Here, a Staff Correspondent for JURIST in Kabul comments on recent Taliban statements indicating that girls secondary and high school will remain closed for the time being.  For privacy and security reasons, we are withholding our Correspondent’s name. The text has been only lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.

Girls have been barred from attending high and secondary school in Afghanistan for four months now. Despite numerous petitions from students, teachers, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Afghanistan, the Taliban continue to prohibit girls from attending schools beyond the sixth grade. The BBC recently interviewed students and teachers in 13 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces and discovered that, despite the Taliban’s promise to reopen girls’ high schools in Afghanistan, they have not followed through.

Across Afghanistan, teachers report that fewer girls are enrolling in reopened primary schools. Many families have refused to allow their daughters to return to school due to widespread poverty and security concerns.

Previously, Taliban officials refused to confirm or deny the ban on girls returning to secondary and high schools. However, in an interview with the BBC’s Abdul Hakim Hemmat, Taliban deputy acting education minister Abdul Hakim Hemmat has confirmed that all girls’ secondary and high schools in Afghanistan should remain closed until new regulations are passed. He stated that he hopes those regulations will be in place by the start of the next school year.

The deputy acting minister said the situation was temporary and that the Taliban was working to provide a safe environment for girls to study. He emphasized the importance of adolescent girls and boys continuing their education in separate classes. This was a common practice before the Taliban took power.

So far, the Taliban’s stance on girls’ education appears to be haphazard and disorganized. New procedures are currently taking far too long to complete and publicize.