AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The new solar year 1405 has arrived, while girls over the age of 12 have been deprived of education for the fourth year.
The bell of education and learning rings every year in Afghanistan at the beginning of the new solar year, and the doors of schools and universities open to girls and boys. The doors of educational and academic centers open in the new solar year, while, according to United Nations statistics, approximately 2.5 million girls will be deprived of attending schools in the new year.
The issue of girls’ education is important for all Afghan people, including Shiite and Sunni scholars. However, among them, Shiite families and scholars insist more than others on the reopening of schools and universities and have emphasized this issue on every occasion.
During this year’s Eid al-Fitr, which coincided with the start of the new academic year in Afghanistan, many Shiite families and elders raised their voices and called on the Afghan government to open the doors of schools and universities to girls and women after four years.
The issue of education and learning for Afghan girls has not been limited to domestic voices but has also been raised internationally, with the European Union and the United Nations also emphasizing this matter.
Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, once again called for the lifting of the ban on girls’ education in this regard and emphasized that only in Afghanistan does the new year mark the start of an academic year in which girls above the sixth grade cannot attend school, and women cannot enter universities.
This UN official stated that the continuation of this ban is unacceptable and that Afghan government officials must lift it as soon as possible.
The ban on girls’ education has had catastrophic consequences for Afghan families, including Shiites. Some families have been forced to marry off their daughters at an early age, while thousands of other families have migrated to neighboring countries for their daughters to continue their education.
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