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Girl Education
The UN children's agency on Saturday urged Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to immediately lift a lingering ban on girls' education to save the future of millions who have been deprived of their right to education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The appeal by UNICEF comes as a new school year began in Afghanistan without girls beyond sixth grade. The ban, said the agency, has deprived 400,000 more girls of their right to education, bringing the total to 2.2 million. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education, with the Taliban justifying the ban saying it doesn't comply with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. For over three years, the rights of girls in Afghanistan have been violated," Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director, said in a statement. All girls must be allowed to return to school now. If these capable, bright young girls continue to be denied an education, then the repercussions will last for ...
An Afghan women's group on Friday hailed a decision by the International Criminal Court to arrest Taliban leaders for their persecution of women. The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced Thursday he had requested arrest warrants for two top Taliban officials, including the leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Since they took back control of the country in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from jobs, most public spaces and education beyond sixth grade. In a statement, the Afghan Women's Movement for Justice and Awareness celebrated the ICC decision and called it a great historical achievement. We consider this achievement a symbol of the strength and will of Afghan women and believe this step will start a new chapter of accountability and justice in the country, the group said. The Taliban government has yet to comment on the court's move. Also Friday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said it was a tragedy and travesty that girls remain deprived of educatio
A senior Taliban figure has urged the group's leader to scrap education bans on Afghan women and girls, saying there is no excuse for them, in a rare public rebuke of government policy. Sher Abbas Stanikzai, political deputy at the Foreign Ministry, made the remarks in a speech on Saturday in southeastern Khost province. He told an audience at a religious school ceremony there was no reason to deny education to women and girls, just as there was no justification for it in the past and there shouldn't be one at all. The government has barred females from education after sixth grade. Last September, there were reports authorities had also stopped medical training and courses for women. In Afghanistan, women and girls can only be treated by female doctors and health professionals. Authorities have yet to confirm the medical training ban. We call on the leadership again to open the doors of education," said Stanikzai in a video shared by his official account on the social platform X.
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai will be visiting Pakistan over the weekend to attend the international conference on girls' education in Muslim communities. Malala will be one of the keynote speakers at the two-day conference scheduled for January 11-12 here, The Express Tribune reported. This will be Malala's only third visit to Pakistan since she was flown to Britain for life-saving treatment in October 2012. She visited Pakistan in October 2022 to travel to her hometown for the first time since she was attacked. Malala was just 15 years old when the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) shot her in the head over her campaign for girls' education. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will inaugurate the event and deliver the keynote address. One of the organisers of the conference told The Express Tribune that Malala confirmed her participation in the conference and would deliver a keynote address, highlighting the importance of girls' education in Muslim communities. The Ministry o
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday called for ensuring that girls have equal opportunities to lead and are included in decision-making processes, asserting that mere slogans cannot usher in real change. In a post on X on International Day of the Girl Child, Kharge said gender equality and justice are essential for achieving social, political, and economic progress. "This year's theme for #DayOfTheGirl is 'Girls' vision for the future' which conveys both the need for urgent action and persistent hope, driven by the power of girls' voices and vision for the future," he said. "We must ensure that girls have equal opportunities to lead by placing them at the forefront of change, amplifying their voices, responding to their needs, and including them in decision-making processes," the Congress president said. Mere slogans cannot usher in real change, he asserted. Kharge said it is vital to listen to girls, to invest in proven solutions that will accelerate progress towards
Adolescent girls, particularly those from weaker sections of society, are receiving support from Jharkhand government's financial assistance scheme to pursue their educational dreams, an official said. According to him, Savitribai Phule Kishori Samriddhi Yojana (SPKSY), launched by the Hemant Soren-led government, has been instrumental in discouraging early child marriage, reducing school dropouts, and encouraging girls to seek higher education. Laxman Hajam, a parent, said the scheme has ensured that financial constraints would no longer hinder his daughter's dream of becoming a doctor. "Now, she can continue her education," said Hajam, whose daughter is in class 10. The SPKSY provides scholarships totaling Rs 40,000, distributed in six installments, to facilitate the education of adolescent girls and promote women's empowerment and gender justice. Girls studying in classes 8 to 12 receive Rs 20,000 in five installments, with a one-time scholarship of Rs 20,000 available when ...
President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said women need to be encouraged to pursue higher education and become independent to achieve the goal of making India the most developed nation by 2047. She also sought everyone's cooperation to help people from backward communities join the march of development. "I would like to call upon all educational institutions and teachers to encourage daughters to pursue higher education and become self-reliant as we want to make India the most developed and most advanced country by 2047," Murmu said at the convocation ceremony of Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Vishwa Vidyalaya (DAVV) in its diamond jubilee year. "...Therefore, all of us need to support and encourage women to move ahead as they constitute half of the country's population. If our daughters dream big and bring it to reality with your support and guidance, only then will they be able to become partners in the development of the country in the true sense," she said. The president noted that among .
The government will soon launch a scheme to train 14-18 years old girls in non-traditional job roles, a move aimed at increasing women's participation in the labour force, a top official said on Wednesday. The pilot of the scheme will be launched in the next 2-3 weeks, Secretary in Ministry of Women and Child Development Anil Malik said. The scheme, which is being launched in 27 districts in the pilot phase, will eventually be expanded to cover 218 districts across the country, he said. A non-traditional career is generally defined as a certain role that has less than 25 per cent of a specific gender, either men or women. As part of the 'Introduction of Special Project for Empowering Adolescent Girls & Women', 14-18 years old girls would be provided training near their schools and homes while they continue their education. The secretary shared that the pilot will be launched in 2-3 weeks under which training in non-traditional job roles will be provided along with digital ...
The Taliban have deliberately deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of schooling through bans, a UN agency said Thursday. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with bans on female secondary and higher education. The Taliban, who took power in 2021, barred education for girls above sixth grade because they said it didn't comply with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. They didn't stop it for boys and show no sign of taking the steps needed to reopen classrooms and campuses for girls and women. UNESCO said at least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since the takeover, an increase of 3,00,000 since its previous count in April 2023, with more girls reaching the age limit of 12 every year. If we add the girls who were already out of school before the bans were introduced, there are now almost 2.5 million girls in the country deprived of their right to education, representing 80 per cent of Afghan school-age girls, UNESCO said.
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Mumbai college's decision banning 'hijab, burqa, cap and naqab' on the campus and said girl students must have the freedom to choose what they wear. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar came down heavily on the Chembur Trombay Education Society, which runs the 'N G Acharya and D K Marathe College' for issuing such a circular and asked whether it would ban 'bindi' and 'tilak' also. During the hearing, Justice Kumar asked senior advocate Madhavi Divan, appearing for the society, how was the college empowering the girl students by issuing such a circular. "How are you empowering the women by telling them what to wear? I think it's less said the better. Where is the freedom of choice for the women? Where is freedom of choice of what to wear to the girl students? Educational institutions should not force their decisions on the girl students on what to wear," said Justice Kumar. Divan contended that the college is a co-educational ...