BBC News: More than 80 Afghan women who fled the Taliban to pursue higher education in Oman now face imminent return back to Afghanistan, following the Trump administration’s sweeping freeze on foreign aid programmes. Funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), their scholarships were abruptly terminated after a funding freeze ordered by President
Khaama: Based on a notice released by a school, students in the 1404 solar year (starting March 22) will be required to wear the new Taliban-issued uniform. The announcement was published on Thursday, February 27. The notice states that students in grades 1 to 9 will be required to wear a blue shirt and pants,
8am: With the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan, students’ interest in continuing their education under the rule of this group has significantly declined. Sources from public universities confirm that around 50% of students have dropped out. According to these sources, even science-related disciplines have faced more than a 50% dropout rate. One informed source states
Amu: The Afghanistan Human Rights Center has reported an unprecedented surge in the construction of jihadi madrassas under Taliban rule. The 30-page report highlights how these institutions have become a tool for power consolidation among Taliban leaders and warns of their potentially harmful impact on the mindset and future of the country’s younger generation. According
By Muska Safi and Roshan Noorzai VOA News January 27, 2025 WASHINGTON — It took Susan Salih about eight hours to travel from Kabul, Afghanistan, to Peshawar, Pakistan, to take a scholarship exam the Pakistani government offers to Afghan students. Salih, 25, and a group of other young Afghan women who took the exam at the
Afghanistan International: Hayatullah Mohajir Farahi, the Taliban’s Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, defended the group’s ban on the distribution and publication of dozens of books, saying that banning books is a “common practice” in many countries. Farahi added that the Taliban has banned some books in order to build a “single nation” in Afghanistan.
Amu: The Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has announced plans to award bachelor’s degrees to 11,000 madrasa students and master’s degrees to 15,000 clerics. The ministry stated that examinations for granting these degrees will be held across 31 provinces. However, many citizens and experts have criticized the move as an injustice to Afghanistan’s educational system,
Afghanistan International: Rahmatullah Jaber, the Taliban’s education chief in Herat, announced in a letter that girls’ education above the sixth grade in private education centres is prohibited. The Taliban official said that girls’ education above the sixth grade is prohibited by Mullah Hibatullah’s decree until “further notice”. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Students and professors report that the Taliban are systematically turning universities into madrasas. Alongside dismissing professors, they are altering curricula, engaging in ideological confrontations, and prioritizing clerics over qualified educators. These practices, coupled with a lack of legal structure and clerical dominance, have driven many professors to leave universities. Click here to read more
As the academic year ends in Afghanistan, students are saying goodbye to their teachers and classmates. But for girls as young as 11, it’s the end of their education altogether, due to the Taliban’s prohibition on girls studying after the sixth grade. One top student, whose identity has been concealed for her safety, told RFE/RL’s