A number of students have rallied in Kabul to protest the Taliban's decision to block girls' schools.
Those who gathered in a house today (Thursday, 23 March) chanted slogans such as "No religion restricts education and the ban on educating girls is blatant gender discrimination."
The students urged the Taliban not to be hypocritical about male and female students. They say closing schools is persecution for a generation.
Protesting students also chanted slogans calling on Pakistan to call on the Taliban to open the school to girls in the sixth grade.
Girls' schools were scheduled to reopen across the country after months of closure yesterday (Wednesday, June 3); But the Taliban Ministry of Education announced that girls' secondary and high schools would remain closed until further notice.
A statement from the Taliban Ministry of Education said that if the school uniform was designed in accordance with Afghan law, customs and culture, then girls' schools would be reopened in accordance with the Taliban leadership.
The decision has provoked widespread national and international backlash.