UNESCO says 2.4 million Afghan girls denied access to further education | Education News
UNESCO Reports 2.4 Million Afghan Girls Denied Secondary Education
Published: August 11, 2026
The UNESCO has reported that approximately 2.4 million girls in Afghanistan are currently prohibited from attending secondary school. This figure marks an increase of 200,000 from the previous year and has prompted renewed calls for the Taliban government to lift the restrictions on female education. The agency warned that without a policy reversal, the number could reach four million by 2030.
Afghanistan remains the only nation globally that bars girls and women from secondary schools and universities. This practice, among other restrictions on women’s rights, has led the United Nations to label the situation as “gender apartheid.”
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, girls were barred from secondary school in March 2022. Later that year, in December, women were also excluded from universities. Furthermore, the Taliban has prohibited women from teaching boys, which the UN argues has contributed to a significant loss of qualified educators. The agency predicts a shortfall of more than 11,000 qualified female teachers by 2030.
These education restrictions exacerbate existing issues within Afghanistan’s education system and economy. Many schools face overcrowding and inadequate resources; nearly half lack essential facilities such as water, sanitation, and heating. Over the past five years, natural disasters have forced approximately 1,000 schools to close.
At the primary education level, more than two million children are out of school, and 90 percent of 10-year-olds are unable to read a simple text, resulting in a national literacy rate of just 37 percent.
Despite widespread international and domestic appeals—including from several Muslim-majority countries—the Taliban has dismissed calls to lift the ban on girls’ education, labeling it an internal matter.
