Afghanistan: Wardak residents urge Taliban to reopen schools

 As human rights violations across the war-torn country continue under the Taliban regime, residents of Wardak province of Afghanistan called on the organization to reopen the schools for girls above grade six.

As women and girls in Afghanistan are facing a human rights crisis, a teacher in the central province of Wardak, Shukria Husseini launched a campaign to encourage girls to get education in Afghanistan, TOLOnews reported.

"I was the first woman to encourage girls to get education. Now I am very sad that they can't study," she said as she called out Taliban to reopen the schools for girls in grades 7-12 as soon as possible.

"As the girls above grade six are not allowed to go to the schools, the families also prevent their daughters below grade six from going to school. They say when the girls above grade six can't be educated, these girls below grade six also cannot be educated," Husseini added, according to TOLOnews.

Several human rights and education activists had urged world leaders in an open letter recently to mount diplomatic pressure on the Taliban to reopen secondary schools for girls in the war-torn country as the Taliban's brutal regime in Afghanistan will soon complete a year in August.

World leaders, regional allies, and international organizations were urged in the letter to take serious actions to fulfil their commitments in order to promote and protect Afghan girls' rights, especially the right to education which was snatched away from them after the Taliban-led Afghan government banned the education for girls in classes 6 and above. Taliban has imposed draconian restrictions on women and girls' rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, and movement.

The Taliban's decision to ban female students above grade six from school has drawn widespread criticism at the national and international levels. Further, the Taliban regime which took over Kabul in August last year has curtailed women's rights and freedoms, with women largely excluded from the workforce due to the economic crisis and restrictions.

As a result, women and girls in Afghanistan are facing a human rights crisis, deprived of the fundamental rights to non-discrimination, education, work, public participation and health.