According to a new directive from the Taliban’s Ministry of Education, Afghan students will be required to wear new uniforms starting from the 2025 academic year. Under this regulation, students from grades 1 to 9 must wear blue tunics and trousers with white caps and students from grades 10 to 12 must wear white tunics and trousers along with a turban (lungi).
Earlier, Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s leader, had signed a nine-article decree mandating all public and private schools to adopt white tunics, trousers, turbans, and caps as the official school uniform.
This decision has sparked widespread criticism across Afghanistan. Many citizens believe that, in addition to altering the curriculum, the Taliban are fully Talibanizing the education system by imposing new uniforms.
Experts argue that the Taliban use the education system as a tool to promote their ideology. The enforcement of a mandatory uniform is seen as part of a broader project to indoctrinate Afghanistan’s younger generations with extremist beliefs.
Since the Taliban’s return to power, they have imposed severe restrictions on education, including banning girls from attending school beyond the 6th grade and removing certain subjects from the national curriculum.
The imposition of mandatory uniforms is another step toward tightening the Taliban’s control over the education system. However, these changes have not only fueled public dissatisfaction but have also raised concerns about the future of Afghanistan’s younger generations.
