Taliban supreme leader appoints new Education Minister
The Hindu
The international community has made the reopening of secondary schools for girls a key condition for recognising the Taliban government
The Taliban supreme leader has installed a loyalist cleric as Afghanistan's Education Minister, with the hardline Islamists doubling down on their ban on secondary education for girls.
Hundreds of thousands of girls and young women have been deprived of an education since the Taliban returned to power a year ago.
Habibullah Agha, a member of reclusive supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada's inner circle, was named the new Education Minister in a reshuffle announced by the government spokesman on Tuesday.
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"We can't make any plans on our own. We don't do that. Rather, I will act according to the instructions given by the supreme leader," Mr. Agha, 68, told AFP on Wednesday.
He refused to share his personal views on girls' education, and said he had not received any orders yet on the matter.
Many conservative Afghan clerics within the Taliban are sceptical of modern education.