UNESCO: 2.4 million girls barred from school in Afghanistan

Around 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan have been denied access to secondary education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, UNESCO said Tuesday.

The figure has risen by about 200,000 since last year and could reach nearly four million by 2030 if the ban remains in place.

"Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls and women are formally banned from secondary and higher education," Hoda Jaberian, UNESCO’s program coordinator for education in emergencies, said.

"Five years is not a temporary interruption in a child’s education. It is clearly almost an entire secondary school cycle."

The Taliban seized power on August 15, 2021 , as US and NATO forces withdrew after two decades of war .

They initially assured the international community that women would be allowed to continue studying.

But secondary schools were closed to girls in March 2022 . Women were barred from universities in December that year .

The Taliban described both measures as temporary, but they remain in force.