Thesis Book - Seeds of Hope

CITADEL HERAT, AFGHANISTAN
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3.2 Influence of Taliban on Women’s Freedom
Literature and news now show Afghanistan through the lens of war and terrorism.
This cycle of news prevented the viewers to have a deeper understanding of
the context vastly affected by the invasion of the country’s education, especially
for women, and the loss of culture. The Education Goals and reforms introduced and
applied between 1960 and 1979 have been hindered after the Soviet invasion (1979-
1989), the civil war (1992 - 1996), and especially the Taliban rule (1996 - 2001).
One of the main issues the Afghan government faced after the first Taliban rule is
placing the pieces of the country’s system back into place after decades of war and
invasion that destroyed not only the education system but also the cultural heritage
of the country. During the Taliban Rule, small organizations were built by some
women to secretly run schools and teach the younger generation despite the Taliban’s
ban on girls’ education. Around 40% of Taliban attacks were on girls’ schools.
The lack of adequate safety is still embedded into people’s heads today which
prevents families from allowing girls to leave their home grounds (Alvi, 105 -106)
After a decade of the first Taliban rule in 2009, the government struggled
to increase access to and the quality of education due to the limited resources
available after the post-invasion. Higher education has also been brushed aside
even though the system plays a significant role in the economy’s social and economic
development. The quality of education has been drastically affected for not
just women but also men as the infrastructures were heavily destroyed in the past
decade. According to Hayat Alvi, funding for higher education had been completely
neglected in 2001 and there were no clear strategies for developing the sector.
By 2005 The institution incorporated a 10-year strategic development plan into
the ministry’s education of Afghanistan (Alvi). Year by year, there was a sharp
increase in the number of students enrolling in higher education. Also, due to the
carefully developed National Higher Education Strategic Plan 2010– 2014 (prepared
in 2009), major goals of the Ministry of Education were now succeeding in terms
of quality assurance and accreditation, faculty recruitment, faculty research,
and gender equity despite the major challenges like the lack of funding (Babury).
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