Human Rights Watch (HRW) has stated that apart from girls, who are not allowed to enter classrooms, the “abusive” educational system of Taliban is also failing boys with the departure of qualified teachers and regressive curriculum changes.
In a new report, HRW added that the changes in the education system have led to increased fears about attending school, falling attendance, and a loss of hope for the future.
The report, “‘Schools are Failing Boys Too’: The Taliban’s Impact on Boys’ Education in Afghanistan,” asked governments and UN agencies to urge the Taliban to end their discriminatory ban on girls’ education and to stop violating boys’ rights to quality education.
The report highlighted some of the Taliban policies and practices that are jeopardising education for Afghan boys, including the dismissal of female teachers, increased use of corporal punishment, and regressive changes to the curriculum.
“The Taliban are causing irreversible damage to the Afghan education system for boys as well as girls,” said Sahar Fetrat, assistant women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report. “By harming the whole school system in the country, they risk creating a lost generation deprived of a quality education.”
The research for the report was conducted remotely by interviewing 22 boys in grades 8 to 12, as well as five parents of boys in the same grade range in Kabul, Balkh, Herat, Farah, Parwan, Bamiyan, Nangarhar, and Daikundi provinces between June and August 2022 and March and April 2023, by HRW.
The report stated that boys and parents described a disturbing spike in the use of corporal punishment, including officials beating boys before the whole school for haircut or clothing infractions or for having a mobile phone. Corporal punishment of children in schools is a violation of their human rights, Human Rights Watch said.
HRW emphasised that the Taliban has eliminated subjects including arts, sports, English, and civic education, causing a decline in educational quality.
Another aspect of education which has been stressed upon in the report is that boys are increasingly struggling with anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems in a country where mental health services are sparse.
The report added that the Taliban’s systematic discrimination against women and girls—of which the ban on girls and women studying is only one aspect—is also having harmful effects on boys, including by teaching them harmful gender norms and putting greater pressure on them be the sole financial providers for their families.
