export_ofoct.com

[00:00.70] Bahara Rustam is 13 years old.

[00:05.22] She took her last class at Bibi Razia School in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 11 knowing it was the end of her education.

[00:19.82] Under Afghan law, she is unlikely to ever step foot in a classroom again.

[00:27.79] In September 2021, the country’s ruling Taliban announced that females would be barred from education after sixth grade, or about age 13.

[00:43.99] The government said it was acting in line with Islamic religious law.

[00:50.90] The United States and NATO troops had withdrawn from Afghanistan a month earlier, after 20 years of war.

[01:02.59] In December 2022, the restrictive measure was expanded to include university education.

[01:12.95] The international community has continued to condemn the Taliban for the actions.

[01:21.45] Countries have warned the Taliban that it its actions will bar it from gaining international recognition as a lawful government.

[01:33.40] Last week, United Nations special diplomat for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva appeared before the UN Security Council.

[01:46.15] She said she worried that a generation of Afghan girls is falling behind with each day that passes.

[01:56.78] An Afghan Education Ministry said last week that girls of all ages are permitted to study in religious schools called madrassas.

[02:10.59] They have traditionally been boys-only.

[02:15.10] The UN is trying to confirm the ministry’s statement.

[02:20.68] But Otunbayeva said it was unclear if that education system included wider study of non-religious subjects.

[02:32.90] For now, Bahara is holding onto her education and looks over school books at home.

[02:41.40] “Graduating (from sixth grade) means we are going to seventh grade,” she said.

[02:49.37] “But all of our classmates cried and we were very disappointed,” she added.

[02:56.81] There was no graduation ceremony for the girls at Bibi Razia School.

[03:03.71] In another part of Kabul, 13-year old Setayesh Sahibzada wonders what the future holds for her.

[03:14.34] She is sad she cannot go to school anymore to follow her dreams.

[03:20.18] “I can’t stand on my own two feet,” she said.

[03:25.50] “I wanted to be a teacher.

[03:26.82] But now I can’t study, I can’t go to school.”

[03:31.60] Researcher Muhammad Saleem Paigir warned that banning women and girls from education would be disastrous for Afghanistan.

[03:44.09] “We understand that illiterate people can never be free and prosperous,” he said.

[03:52.59] The Taliban have banned women from many public spaces and most jobs, all but keeping women inside their homes.