Anger and chaos after Afghan girls kept away from school for over a year asked to write exams by Taliban

Furious teachers criticise the Taliban for asking girls to take their high school graduation exams after keeping doors of the schools shut for more than 15 months, reports Arpan Rai

File: Taliban fighters stand guard as female students arrive for entrance exams at Kabul University in Kabul (AFP via Getty Images)

None of the female students of Ashfaq Ahmadi* in Kabul have touched their books in months and were turned away from their high school’s gates last year. This week, however, they were asked to take their graduation exams by the Taliban, prompting anger and outrage among teachers.

“These girls have been fighting for months to attend school, and this is a moment of shock even for them,” Ahmadi says. None of his over a hundred teenage girl students were aware of the surprise move by the hardline Islamic rulers.

“As I know, the Afghan girls are still fighting if they can join school,” he tells The Independent over the phone from Kabul.