Education in Afghanistan

Parts of this article (those related to Post-2021 Taliban Regime) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2022)

Education in Afghanistan includes K–12 and higher education,^[1] which is under the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education.^[2] In 2021, there were nearly 10 million students and 220,000 teachers in Afghanistan.^[3][4] The nation still requires more schools and teachers.^[5][6][7] Soon after the Taliban take took the country in August 2021, they banned girls from secondary education. Some provinces still allow secondary education for girls despite the ban.^[8][9] In December 2022, the Taliban government also prohibited university education for females in Afghanistan, sparking protests and international condemnation.^[10][11] In December 2023, investigations were being held by the United Nations into the claim that Afghan girls of all ages were allowed to study at religious schools.^[12]

According to Acting Education Minister Noorullah Munir, "Afghanistan has 20,000 official schools in which 9,000 are of no use, 5,000 have no building and the remaining 4,000 needed rehabilitation."^[13][14] Compulsory education in Afghanistan is through the ninth grade.^[15] "The academic year consists of 2 semesters, and runs from March to January."^[15] Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, officials under the Islamic Emirate have suspended secondary education to teenage girls.^{[13][16][17][18][19]}

Education improved in Afghanistan after the Taliban government was deposed in 2001. In 2013, 8.2 million Afghans attended school, including 3.2 million girls. This compared to only 1.2 million Afghans attending school in 2001, with fewer than 50,000 being girls.^[20] 39% of girls were attending school in 2017 compared to 6% in 2003. In 2021, a third of students at university were women. The literacy rate has risen from 8% in 2001 to 43% in 2021.^[21]

Some of the major universities in Afghanistan are the American University of Afghanistan (apparently defunct as of 2021), Kabul University, Kabul Polytechnic University, Al-Beroni University, Kardan University, Balkh University, Herat University, Nangarhar University, Shaikh Zayed University, Kandahar University, Bost University, Paktia University, Kunduz University, Badakhshan University, and Ghazni University.