Afghanistan's last two education ministers before the Taliban took over weigh in on group's abrupt U-turn on girls' schooling

• Afghan girls over the age of 11 learned last week they would not be allowed to return to school.
• The move marks a sudden reversal in policy by the Taliban, which retook control of the country in August.

Girls across Afghanistan showed up to the first day of school last week only to immediately be sent home, learning that the Taliban had decided against reopening girls' middle and high schools.

The Taliban's sudden reversal on girls' secondary education is perhaps unsurprising given that girls were banned from going to school the last time the group was in power in the 1990s and early 2000s.

But when the group retook control of the country in August, they put on a show of being more moderate, with all signs pointing towards the group being more inclusive of women. In fact, just a week before the sudden U-turn, the Education Ministry announced that all schools would be reopening starting March 23, including those for girls, according to Deutsche Welle.

Following the reversal, Insider spoke with Dr. Mohammad Mirwais Balkhi and Rangina Hamidi, who both served as ministers of education under former President Ashraf Ghani's administration.

In fact, Hamidi was the last minister of education before the country fell to the Taliban last year. While Hamidi initially vowed to stay in the country, she left a little more than a week after the fall to insure her own 12-year-old daughter was able to get an education. She's now living in the US, where she holds dual citizenship.

"I had to ultimately pick between securing a future for my own daughter versus the millions of daughters I inherited in Afghanistan," Hamidi said.

Hamidi said she felt "anger, frustration, and hurt" when she learned about the Taliban's reversal on girls' education.

"I'm just completely in awe of how they can justify that this is an Islamic decision. For me, for the entire Muslim world, there is absolutely no justification in the faith, in the religion that I practice, that I've been practicing my whole life, that this is an Islamic decision," Hamidi said.

Balkhi, who served as minister of education between 2018 and 2020, said the reversal was "unfortunately" to be expected and that he didn't buy the group's initial promises to ensure girls' education would continue.

Both Hamidi and Balkhi felt that the Taliban may have reversed course to use girls' education as a bargaining chip as they seek to be internationally recognized as the official government of Afghanistan.

Balkhi said that girls' education isn't a top priority for the Taliban, but the group realizes that it is for the international community, and they may see that as leverage.

The move resulted in the US pulling out of talks with the Taliban scheduled to take place at the Doha Forum last weekend. According to The Guardian, the US was set to hold an event laying out the process of recognizing the Taliban, but cancelled the event following the reversal on girls' education.

Hamidi says the Taliban's last-minute reversal on girls' education is also telling about the group's leadership. She believes it shows that there's division on the issue within the Taliban, and that they aren't organized enough to run the country.

Hamidi worries about the long-term impacts restricting girls' education will have on the country.

"There's no doubt about the relationship of education — particularly education for girls — and a country's development and progress in all sectors," Hamidi said.

"By crippling them, by restricting them to only a life inside a home, absolutely it will have a devastating effect on the economic development ... in every respect we can think of, the lack of education for girls is only bound to have a negative impact on society at large."

Balkhi said he has spoken to parents and girls in the country in the aftermath of the decision, who feel deflated.

He said their hopes for a brighter future have been dashed and "the only thing they imagine" now is "living a traditional life" where they "marry and raise children."