Taliban rulers close schools to girls above the sixth grade

Taliban leaders in Afghanistan decided against allowing girls to attend school past Grade 6, an official said Wednesday even though leaders pledged to allow education for all earlier this week. 

The decision, which was confirmed by a Taliban official Wednesday, came at the start of the school year in Afghanistan.

“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,” a Wednesday notice from the country’s ministry of education said, according to the news service.

The international community has been urging Taliban leaders to open schools and give women their right to public space. A statement by the ministry earlier in the week urged “all students” to come to school.

The decision was condemned by both the United Nations and the United States. “The UN in Afghanistan deplores today’s reported announcement by the Taliban that they are further extending their indefinite ban on female students above the 6th grade being permitted to return school,” the United Nations’ Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) said, according to Reuters.

“This is very disappointing & contradicts many Taliban assurances & statements,” Ian McCary, the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires for Afghanistan, added.

During the Taliban’s last rule of the country, female education was banned along with many employment opportunities.