CNN: “Religious Schools Are No Substitute for Modern Education”

Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world where girls are banned from formal education beyond grade six. In the face of this restriction:

• Many girls now attend religious schools (madrasas) as their only option for learning.

• Nearly 23,000 madrasas have been established in three years, many exclusively for girls.

• These schools emphasize traditional Islamic teachings and gender roles aligned with Taliban ideology, focusing on producing “good mothers” rather than professionals or leaders.

Despite being enrolled, many girls express deep dissatisfaction:

• Nargis (23) had dreams of studying at Oxford and opening a girls’ school, but now sees no future.

• A younger girl, fully veiled, mourns her lost dream of becoming a doctor.

UNESCO warns that these policies have already deprived 1.5 million girls of education, and this number could exceed 4 million by 2030, with disastrous consequences for Afghanistan’s development and economy.

The madrasas lack core academic subjects like science, math, and foreign languages—making them a poor substitute for modern education and leaving Afghan girls with few opportunities for real careers or independence.

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🔹 Key Issues Highlighted:

• Educational Apartheid: A generation of Afghan girls is being deliberately denied their right to modern education.

• Gender Inequality: The Taliban’s ideology reinforces deeply patriarchal roles that limit women’s participation in public life.

• Futures Lost: Girls with aspirations in medicine, business, or academia are left hopeless and disillusioned.

• Global Concern: UNESCO and others warn of long-term impacts on Afghanistan’s economy and progress.

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🔹 Analysis:

This report sheds light on how education has become a battleground for gender and ideology in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. While religious schooling may offer a semblance of learning, it fails to equip girls for a modern world—leaving them disempowered and disconnected from global progress.

The voices of the girls—like Nargis—underscore the human cost of educational repression. Their experiences reflect not just lost opportunities, but a growing sense of despair and futility. The report also implicitly challenges the global community: Will the world merely watch as millions of girls are stripped of their future?

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