Afghan children face narrowing path to education, UN agencies report

That’s according to the latest Afghanistan Education Situation report published by the UN’s educational and cultural organization UNESCO and child rights agency UNICEF. 

“Afghanistan’s education situation in 2026 is defined by a widening mismatch between strong demand for learning and the capacity of the education system to meet it,” they said. 

The school-age population – people aged seven to 18 – grew from approximately 10.4 million in 2019 to 11.5 million in 2024, putting increased pressure on already overstretched schools, teachers and education services.  

Recurring emergencies, insufficient investment and large-scale returns of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran are adding to the strain. More than a million returnees arrived this year alone, including more than 245,000 children. 

Separate and unequal 

The report notes that education access is deeply unequal as more than 2.6 million girls have been barred from attending school beyond the sixth grade following the return of the Taliban in August 2021. 

The few remaining opportunities for learning for teenage girls – such as community-based education, literacy and skills development programmes, distance and digital learning as well as private tutoring – “are far from sufficient”, it stresses. 

Although some 5,300 community-driven classes serve around 162,000 learners, with girls accounting for 64 per cent, “nothing can replace in-person schooling and substitute for their fundamental human right to formal education”, the report’s authors note. 

Meanwhile, boys’ enrolment has also weakened, resulting in roughly 53 per cent of primary school-age children remaining outside formal general education. This decline is also reflected at the lower and upper-secondary levels, where their participation is 67 per cent and 79 per cent, respectively. 

Highlighting incomplete information on private, Islamic and alternative educational provision, the report warns of “an increasingly narrow pathway from primary education into secondary education, tertiary study, skills development and employment”. 

Commitment to learning 

Despite the numerous pressures on the educational system, Afghan families continue to seek opportunities for their children to learn, including in areas where schools are inaccessible.  

Approximately 6.6 million children enrolled in public primary schools last year, or around 560,000 more than in 2022, but the pace is not keeping up with population growth. 

The report also stresses the need to improve education quality and invest in teachers and classroom materials. A nationwide assessment found that less than half of fourth graders reached minimum proficiency in language among eight to nine-year-olds. 

With women barred from university, the higher education sector remains substantially smaller than in 2021. Some 208,000 students are enrolled this year, compared with 189,000 in 2024, but still far below the roughly 430,000 in 2020. 

The UN agencies are calling for the full restoration of the right to education for Afghan girls and women, and for barriers that undermine the quality of education to be lifted.  

They warn that without urgent action, a whole generation will be left behind, which will undermine the country’s future recovery and development.