Education advocate and activist Malala Yousafzai strongly condemned the Taliban’s announcement yesterday to ban women from universities in Afghanistan. “The Taliban may lock all the classrooms and university gates in the country — but they can never lock up women’s minds. They cannot stop girls from seeking knowledge. They cannot kill the quest to learn”, wrote the young Nobel Laureate.
The Taliban may lock all the classrooms and university gates in the country — but they can never lock up women’s minds. They cannot stop girls from seeking knowledge. They cannot kill the quest to learn. https://t.co/N6qR0yzMgO
— Malala (@Malala) December 21, 2022
The Malala Fund also posted an official statement on the matter, declaring the move to be “contrary to the fundamental human rights of Afghan women and girls, and the importance given to education for all in the Islamic faith.” The fund was founded by Malala and father Ziauddin Yousafzai in 2013 to champion every girl’s right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education.
The ban on women from attending universities, sparked international condemnation and despair in the country. The higher education minister of Afghanistan announced the regressive decision on Tuesday, saying it would take immediate effect. The ban further restricts women’s education – as girls had already been excluded from secondary schools since the Taliban returned last year.
