Girls excluded as Afghan secondary schools reopen

The Taliban have excluded girls from Afghan secondary schools, after they ordered only boys and male teachers to return to the classroom.

Schoolgirls told the BBC they were devastated not to be returning. “Everything looks very dark,” one said.

A Taliban spokesman said there were plans to open girls’ schools soon.

But there are fears Afghanistan is returning to the harsh rule of the 1990s when a similar ban on girls’ schooling was in place.

A statement issued ahead of Afghan schools reopening on Saturday said: “All male teachers and students should attend their educational institutions.”

Secondary schools are usually for students aged between 13 and 18, and most are segregated.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was later quoted by Afghanistan’s Bakhtar News Agency as saying that girls’ schools would open soon. He said officials were currently working on the “procedure” for this, and details including the division of teachers.

But schoolgirls and their parents said prospects were bleak.