The Afghan girls will be able to take their final high school exams on Wednesday, according to documents cited by the Associated Press (AP), despite the fact that the Taliban regime prohibits them from entering the classroom.
The ruling applies to 31 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces where winter school holidays begin at the end of December, according to two documents from the Taliban’s Ministry of Education, which seized control of the country in 2021.
Ehsanullah Kitab, head of the education department in the capital Kabul, said the exams would take place today, without giving further details, namely how many girls could take the exam.
One of the documents, from the Kabul education department, said that the exams would take place from 10:00 to 13:00 (6:00 to 9:00 in Lisbon).
A second document, signed by Education Minister Habibullah Agha, said the tests would take place in 31 Afghan provinces.
The three excluded provinces, Kandahar, Helmand and Nimroz, have a different school calendar for the school year, and secondary school final exams are usually held later.
“This is ridiculous,” said Najela, an 18-year-old student from Kabul. “We spent a whole year under tension and stress and we didn’t read a page of our school books,” she stressed.
“How are we going to take an exam after a year and a half that the Taliban have kept the school doors closed?” added the young woman.
The Taliban regime seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, as US and NATO forces prepared to withdraw from the country after 20 years of insurgency.
Despite initially promising a more moderate government and protection of the rights of women and minorities, the authorities have restricted rights and freedoms and applied a largely restrictive interpretation of Islamic law.
The regime prohibited children and young people from primary and secondary education, although it did not deny them access to universities. In other words, young Afghan girls who pass today’s exams will be able to enroll in universities.
The principal of a Kabul secondary school told the AP that the girls, most of whom do not have textbooks, will have just one day to take tests in 14 subjects, with 10 questions for each subject.
Students and their teachers will be required to wear a hijab or headscarf.
Young women who cannot attend or fail today’s exams will be able to try again in mid-March after winter break.
Source: TSF
