In response to reports regarding girls' education in madrassas, Heather Barr, Associate Director of the Women’s Division at Human Rights Watch (HRW), stated that madrassas are not an acceptable replacement for schools.
She stated that Roza Otunbayeva, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), seems to be "ready to make compromises on behalf of Afghan girls”.
This Human Rights Watch official on the social media platform X added that there is no future for a country whose children only learn "extremist indoctrination".
Earlier, Otunbayeva had said that the UN had received “evidence" that more girls were attending schools.
On Wednesday, in the UN Security Council meeting, Otunbayeva said that the organisation is investigating the reports about the education of girls in religious schools under the control of the Taliban.
She added that the Taliban do not allow any supervision over the schools and they do not know what they teach there.
Barr, however, criticised Roza Otunbayeva, suggesting that it appears that she is prepared to make compromises with the Taliban.
She has described this “compromise”, which she says is carried out in the absence of Afghan girls, as "impossible and deeply harmful".
The director of the women's division of Human Rights Watch said that Afghan experts frequently talk about schools being replaced by madrassas for the education of boys and girls. "Is the United Nations listening?" asked Barr.
Otunbayeva's statement in the Security Council
On Thursday, at the UN Security Council meeting, Otunbayeva said that the Taliban are trying to get more children into the religious education system.
Acknowledging the challenge to supervise over what is being taught in the Taliban madrassas, she noted that the UN is trying to investigate in this regard.
According to her, reports indicate that girls are allowed to study in madrassas across Afghanistan, but it is not clear if a standard curriculum is being taught or how many girls’ are able to study.
Earlier in a report, Human Rights Watch stated that the Taliban's abusive educational policies harm boys and girls.
According to the report, the Taliban's dismissal of female teachers, increased use of corporal punishment, and regressive changes to the curriculum are failing boys’ schools.
Meanwhile, since the Taliban have dismissed all female teachers from boys' schools, many boys are taught by unqualified people or participate in classes with no teachers at all.