In what comes as a major setback to Afghan girls hoping for a return to schools, the Taliban on Wednesday ordered all high schools for girls in the country to remain closed, backtracking on its earlier pledge to resume classes for all girls. Hundreds of excited girls who reached schools were told by officials to go back to their homes.

Since August 2021, when the ultra-conservative Islamist group came to power, girls between classes 6 to 12 have not been allowed to attend classes. Last week, the Taliban’s Ministry of Education had announced that they would resume classes for all girls from this week. [Read More]

“We inform all-girls high schools and those schools that are having female students above class six that they are off until the next order," Bakhtar News, a state-run news agency, quoted the order issued by the Taliban’s Ministry of Education.

Multiple media reports said girls in Kandahar and other provinces were not allowed to enter their schools on Wednesday by local Taliban leaders, despite a clear order from the central authority. Amid the confusion, the Education Ministry later announced a decision to keep all high schools for older girls close until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law for them to reopen, reported Reuters.

“We all got disappointed and we all became totally hopeless when the principal told us, she was also crying," a girl was quoted as saying by Reuters. Allowing girls access to education has remained one of the key demands of the international community for the recognition of the Taliban government.

Significantly, the issue of girls’ education remains divisive even within the Taliban's rank and file, as certain sections oppose it while others support it. Traditionally, the Taliban leaves many of these controversial issues to be decided by their local leadership. In this case also, as media reports suggested, local leaders in several places resisted the order of reopening of girls' schools.

However, given the sharp focus of rights activists within the country and the international community, this issue is unlikely to be tackled through this localized approach.

Another factor that might have affected the Taliban’s reversal of the position is the growing speculations around the change of senior leadership position in the Taliban’s interim government.

Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group's supreme leader, has reportedly called a meeting of senior leaders in Kandahar to discuss changes in senior leadership positions. Furthermore, there has been growing friction, especially between the factions led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, currently the interior minister, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, currently deputy prime minister.