The Ministry of Education of the caretaker government has recently announced that 51 lesson titles from several school subjects, ranging from grade one to grade twelve, have been removed.
According to the ministry, these titles have been eliminated from Dari, Pashto, Social Studies, and English subjects, and their teaching in schools is now prohibited.
In a letter obtained by the media, it is emphasized that these lessons were deemed contrary to “religious teachings, the policy of the Islamic Emirate, and educational standards.”
The letter states that lessons on the national flag, Teacher’s Day, mother, women’s rights in society, human rights, humanitarianism, Red Flower Festival, the Bamiyan Buddhas, folk customs and songs, the caliphate of Imam Ali, and several other topics have been removed from textbooks.
The ministry also added in the letter that it is reviewing scientific subjects in schools as well, and if any material is found to be against “religious teachings, the policy of the Islamic Emirate, and educational standards,” they will also be removed.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Education of the caretaker government had previously announced several times that it would bring changes, remove, and replace certain lesson titles in primary school subjects.
These 51 lesson titles are being removed at a time when the current government, since taking control of Afghanistan, has deprived women and girls of education. In its latest restriction, the government closed the doors of medical institutes to female students, even though Afghanistan’s health sector faces a shortage of personnel.
This action by the current government has left millions of schoolgirls without access to education.
In addition, women have also been banned from going to gyms, restaurants, public baths, being examined by male doctors, traveling without a male guardian, and working in domestic and international NGOs, as well as even at United Nations offices in Afghanistan.
