The Taliban, the new rulers of Afghanistan, has assured the UN  that they will “very soon” allow older girls to resume studies in secondary schools in the country, which was banned after the Taliban's takeover in the country. The assurance came amid the growing international pressure on the group, calling for respecting human rights, including girls’ access to education.  

Omar Abdi, the UNICEF deputy executive director, had informed that UN Headquarters that the group had already allowed girls to attend secondary schools in five of the country’s total 34 provinces. Abdi, who visited Kabul last week, held discussions with Taliban officials. 

However, all the five provinces, which allowed secondary schools for girls, are in the country’s northern part, considered relatively less conservative in comparison to other southern and eastern provinces. 

Taliban officials assured Abdi that they were working on “a framework” to allow all older girls to continue their schooling beyond the sixth grade, which should be published “between a month and two.”

“As I speak to you today, millions of girls of secondary school age are missing out on education for the 27th consecutive day,” Abdi was quoted as saying The Associated Press. “We are urging them not to wait. Any day that we wait -- it’s a day lost for those girls that are out of school.”

Between 1996-2001, the period when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, the group had banned education for girls, barred women from jobs, and put severe restrictions on women. However, the Taliban regime fell in 2001, the country made remarkable progress, especially in the women’s rights domain. 

The Taliban, which returned to power on 15 August, initially allowed only boys to attend classes over fifth grade. Although the group called the measures temporary, people remained apprehensive about their promises. 

(SAM)