KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2023) The Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) shut all schools in two southern Afghan provinces indefinitely, pending results of an inspection, a source in the education ministry told Sputnik on Monday.
The Taliban-run ministry sent a directive to provincial educational authorities in the provinces of Kandahar and Helmand ordering the closure of schools as well as institutions of higher learning, the source familiar with the contents of the circular letter said.
Schools will remain shut until further notice, the directive said. Taliban delegates have been sent to the regions to review educational projects and resolve disputes, the source said.
The education ministry said on social media that the head of education in Helmand province inspected two schools on Monday and talked to their staff and students about the "provision of quality education."
The Taliban, which adhere to a strict interpretation of Islamic law, barred women from higher educational institutions soon after they swept to power across Afghanistan and captured its capital Kabul in August 2021. Girls have also been banned from attending secondary schools and higher education institutes.
