elders\u2019 recommendation
\nISLAMABAD
\nTaliban authorities Saturday shut down girls schools above the sixth grade in eastern Afghanistan\u2019s Paktia province, according to witnesses and social media posts. The schools had briefly opened after a recommendation by tribal elders and school principals.
\nEarlier this month, four girls schools above grade 6 in Gardez, the provincial capital, and one in the Samkani district began operating without formal permission from the Taliban Education Ministry.
\nOn Saturday, all five schools were once again closed by the Taliban.
\nDozens of tearful former students \u2014 some in head-to-toe burqas, others in school uniforms and white vails \u2014 protested Saturday in the streets of Gardez, according to social media posts.
\nMohammad Sediq, a resident of Gardez, said he had been happy that his two sisters could go to school, but the Taliban disappointed him by closing the girls schools.
\nTaliban government spokespersons and Education Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.
\nA year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, teenage girls are still barred from school and women are required to cover themselves from head to toe in public, with only their eyes showing. Hard-liners appear to hold sway in the Taliban-led government, which imposed severe restrictions on access to education and jobs for girls and women, despite initial promises to the contrary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
elders\u2019 recommendation ISLAMABAD Taliban authorities Saturday shut down girls schools above the sixth grade in eastern Afghanistan\u2019s Paktia province, according to witnesses and social media posts. The schools had briefly opened after a recommendation by tribal elders and school principals. Earlier this month, four girls schools above grade 6 in Gardez, the provincial capital, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-282691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n