Clerics in Paktika call for reopening of girls’ schools

KABUL (Tolo News): Dozens of clerics gathered in the southeastern province of Paktika and called for the reopening of schools for female students. The participants of the gathering released a resolution stating that women should be provided education along with men.
The former president, Hamid Karzai, welcomed the statement, and he called on the Islamic Emirate to respect the group’s demand to reopen schools for female students in grades 7-12. “The stance, and gatherings, of the religious scholars over girls’ access to education reflects the interest of the people in education,” Karzai said in a statement released by his office.
In recent months thousands of female students over grade six across the country were not allowed to attend their schools and were told to stay home until a new decision is announced by the leadership of the Islamic Emirate. The former mayor of Maidan Shar, Zarifa Ghafari, in an open letter urged the international community and international organizations to help work towards the reopening of schools for girls and to aid with the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
“The letter calls on the international community to cooperate with the current govt in reopening of the schools,” she said. Huda Khamosh, a female rights defender, in a separate letter to Western countries, said the Islamic Emirate has not fulfilled its promises.
“After all, they (Islamic Emirate) have not fulfilled a small promise, which was the reopening of the schools. They will not live up to any of their promises,” she said. Despite unabated pressure on the current Afghan government, female students above grade six have yet to be allowed to attend school.