The National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan condemned the Taliban’s decision to exclude girls from returning to secondary schools. In a statement on Sunday, the NRF, which has been battling the Taliban regime, said that the extremist group had reaffirmed their “retrograde” belief of restricting women to only “household chores”.

“All male teachers and students should attend their educational institutions,” the Taliban had said earlier.

Reacting to the development, the NRF said, “The (Taliban) regime’s position as elaborated by its spokesmen is but a reaffirmation of its long-held retrograde view that women should be consigned to household chores.”

According to the NRF statement, the Taliban had decided not to reopen secondary schools for girls until “separate classrooms for boys and girls” were made available. However, the resistance front said that secondary schools in Afghanistan “have always been separate”.

“The NRF reiterates its absolute commitment to the restoration of the rights and freedoms of our people, including the right to education for all citizens irrespective of gender. We will continue our struggle to free our country from the clutches of the retrograde crime syndicate that has taken over our country,” the NRF said.

Meanwhile, primary schools have already reopened, with boys and girls mostly attending separate classes and some women teachers returning to work. Earlier this month, images of an Afghan university classroom with a curtain segregating the men and women students went viral on social media.

READ | In solidarity with girls, Afghan boys refrain from going to school

READ | Founder of all-girls school in Afghanistan burns records to shield students from Taliban