KABUL: In a recent announcement, the Taliban’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid once again pledged efforts were ongoing to reopen girls’ schools above the sixth grade. 
“Efforts are ongoing in the nation to address this issue, and with God’s help, all issues will be resolved,” Mujahid told the press. 
It has been more than a year that Afghan girls above the sixth grade have been banned from school despite the de facto Taliban administration’s promises. This year thousands of girls lost the chance to participate in the national entrance exam (Kankor) as they couldn’t graduate from grade 12th due to school closures. 
Meanwhile, the tribal elders of Paktia province, however, expressed concern over the ongoing closure of girls’ secondary schools beyond sixth grade, asking the Taliban to reopen them, adding that their daughters are eagerly awaiting. 
“Taliban must remove all obstacles to women’s education, now more than ever,” according to the tribal elders. 
Bids to mediate schools’ reopening at local levels were thwarted by the Taliban. Earlier, some schools for girls in Paktia were opened for a few days through tribal elders’ mediation, but their reopening was short-lived as they were closed again by the Taliban. Protests in the province and across the country followed the closure of these schools.
This comes as there had been similar promises of reopening girls’ schools by the Taliban, but they didn’t deliver.