The Taliban’s primary court in Khidir district of Daikundi province has sentenced six teachers from the Ofuq-e Nowin educational centre to prison, sources told Afghanistan International.
The sentences range from three to five months and are reportedly linked to the instructors’ work teaching English and computer skills.
According to the sources, the teachers were arrested for offering these courses at the centre, although it remains unclear whether their detention was directly related to teaching female students. However, previous similar incidents suggest this may have been a factor.
In January of this year, Taliban intelligence in Sang Takht Wa Bandar district of Daikundi arrested four instructors from another educational centre for teaching English and computer classes to girls. Those teachers were detained briefly and released on bail, and the centre was subsequently shut down.
Sources confirmed that on Monday, 19 May, Raziq Taqipour and Habib Roshan, both computer instructors at Ofuq-e Nowin, were sentenced to five months in prison. Meanwhile, English instructors Asif Rahish, Rashid, Esmat, and Najaf received three-month prison sentences from the court.
These instructors had previously been arrested in January last year, at which time their educational centres were closed. They were released on bail but were summoned again to the district administration office on Monday, where the current sentences were handed down.
Since returning to power nearly four years ago, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on girls’ and women’s education. Girls have been banned from attending school beyond the sixth grade, and all female students have been barred from universities and other higher education institutions.
