WATCH: Taliban shatters dream of another girl from Afghanistan, stops her to become education minister

It’s been two years since the Taliban administration in Afghanistan shut the doors of schools for young girls, crushing the hopes of many women who had planned a great career for themselves. A video of a girl named Zainab Alizai has been making rounds on social media as she bid farewell to her peers and teachers with a heavy heart on the last day in her school. In 2021, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan after US forces withdrew from the nation overnight. Since then, the administration banned girls from school beyond sixth grade, making it the only country to restrict education access to women. Alizai, a sixth-grader, wants to earn a PhD and become Afghanistan’s Education Minister. In the video, the young girl urged Afghan leaders and the international community to support education, pleading for a brighter future where girls like her can pursue their dreams.

Heart-wrenching video from Zainab Alizai, a brave sixth-grade student in Afghanistan. Today marked her last day in school under Taliban's control. Tearfully bidding farewell to peers, teachers, and dreams of education, she shared her ambition to earn a PhD and become… pic.twitter.com/V21JfSDKTZ

— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) December 7, 2023

Source: @bsarwary The ban triggered global condemnation and remains the Taliban’s biggest obstacle to gaining recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan. But the Taliban defied the backlash and went further, excluding women and girls from higher education, public spaces like parks, and most jobs. The UN children’s agency says more than 1 million girls are affected by the ban, although it estimates 5 million were out of school before the Taliban takeover due to a lack of facilities and other reasons. Meanwhile, in what seems to be a deviation from his own administration’s view, Afghanistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai said that the reason why people distance themselves from the Taliban is the continued ban on women’s education. The Taliban appointed Deputy Foreign Minister while speaking at a graduation ceremony, stressed the importance of reopening schools for female students beyond grade six and said a society without knowledge is “dark”. “This is everyone’s right. This is the natural right that God and the prophet have given them, how can someone take this right from them? If anyone violates this right, this is an oppression against the Afghans and the people of this country,” Stanikzai said He added, “Try to reopen the doors of the educational institutions for everyone. Today, our only problem with the neighbors and the world is caused by the issue of education. If the nation is getting distant from us and upset with us, that is due to the education issue.” With inputs from agencies