Taliban shuts private educational institutions in southern Afghanistan

New Delhi: The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have ordered the closure of all private educational institutions in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand until further notice.

The move comes as part of a broader investigation into the activity of NGOs providing education in the country. The Education Ministry has appointed a delegation to review the "projects and activities" of all educational institutions in the two provinces. For this purpose, the academic departments of these provinces have been ordered to suspend activities of non-university private education.

The closure includes private grade schools, high schools, and private postsecondary education centres.

Kandahar education department spokesman Wakil Ahmad Moutawakel confirmed that he had received a letter from the Ministry of Education ordering the closure of all private educational institutions in both Kandahar and Helmand, according to the Tolo news portal.

TOLOnews said that some NGOs have launched local educational classes for girls and boys in remote areas of the country. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy (MoE) said that at least 178 organizations are active in the educational sector.

Earlier, UNICEF said it had launched over 5,000 local classes for students, and girls comprise at least 50 per cent of them.

"There are 178 private--118 domestic and 60 foreign-- organizations active in the educational sector in 34 provinces," said Abdul Rahman Habib, a spokesman for the Education Ministry.

Taliban earlier prevented female UN staff from working in Nangarhar province. After this, the UN stated that it is considering "all possible scenarios," which leaves in the air its continuity in one of the countries most in need of humanitarian aid in the world.

UN Staff has been asked to work from home for a month.

The Ministry of Economy of the Taliban authority in Afghanistan issued a decree in December ordering all national or international NGOs to suspend women's employment contracts until further notice.

It has been more than one and a half years since the Taliban banned female students above grade six from attending schools. After seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban-installed authorities have faced criticism for their restrictions on civil liberties, including the closure of educational institutions and the exclusion of female students.