Taliban could be convinced to open girls’ schools, says Afghanistan ex-education minister

Children raise their hands as they attend a class at the Today’s Child mobile school run voluntarily on the outskirts of Kabul, on 4 October 2023. Photograph: Samiullah Popal/EPA

There are many Taliban officials who would support reversing the ban on schooling for girls in Afghanistan, according to the country’s last education minister before the takeover.

Under Taliban rule, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world where girls are banned from schooling beyond the age of 11. The group has also imposed what has been described as a policy of “gender apartheid”, banning women from most work and public spaces.