5 years after Taliban takeover, 2.4 mn Afghan girls still excluded from school: Unesco

Afghanistan only country where girls formally barred from secondary, higher education, Unesco saysAn estimated 2.4 million Afghan girls remain excluded from secondary education, five years after the Taliban returned to power, according to a report by Unesco.Unesco said Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls and women are formally barred from secondary and higher education, calling the continued exclusion a grave violation of their fundamental rights. Hoda Jaberian, Unesco’s programme coordinator for education in emergencies, said five years amounted to almost an entire secondary-school cycle and called for the restrictions to be lifted immediately and without conditions.The Taliban seized power on August 15, 2021, as US and Nato forces withdrew after two decades of w