Unesco reports 2.4 million Afghan girls barred from secondary education under Taliban rule

Roughly 2.4 million Afghan girls have been systematically denied access to secondary education since the Taliban regained power in 2021, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) announced, urging an immediate end to the policy.

The UN agency noted that the number of girls excluded from high school has grown by 200,000 over the past year and warned that the figure could reach nearly four million by 2030 if the restrictions remain in place. Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where female students are formally prohibited from attending school beyond the primary level.

The current restrictions mark a stark reversal of educational progress achieved over the preceding two decades.

In 2001, female enrolment was severely limited, but by 2021, nearly one million girls were actively attending secondary schools across the country. Beyond human rights concerns, Unesco highlighted the severe long-term economic fallout, estimating that the prohibition on female education and employment could cost the Afghan economy $9.6 billion (£7.5 billion) by 2066.

The wider educational landscape in Afghanistan faces critical systemic strain. More than half of primary-school-aged children are out of school entirely, and over 90 per cent of 10-year-olds are unable to read basic text. Infrastructure deficits, including widespread shortages of clean drinking water, sanitation, and heating, alongside recurrent natural disasters continue to exacerbate the ongoing crisis.