Afghanistan Marks Five Years of Taliban Ban on Girls' Secondary Education

When the Taliban retook Kabul in August 2021, they barred girls from attending school beyond sixth grade within weeks. Five years later, the restriction remains in force, making Afghanistan the only country in the world that officially prohibits girls and women from accessing secondary and higher education. Women have also been banned from working in most sectors where they were previously employed, from public jobs to national and international humanitarian aid organizations.

Roughly 2.2 million adolescent girls have been kept out of secondary school for nearly 1,800 days. A 2026 UNICEF analysis projects that Afghanistan will lose up to 20,000 female teachers and 5,400 female health workers by 2030, with restrictions estimated to cost the country about $84 million annually. Since September 2025, Taliban forces have also barred Afghan women—including UN staff—from entering UN offices.

In January 2026, female civil servants lost even the reduced salary they had received since 2021 for staying home. The author recalls witnessing a similar situation as a child in 1996, the last time the Taliban took Kabul.