Taliban’s New Minister of Education is Illiterate, Says Group’s Senior Official

Taliban’s newly-appointed Minister of Education, Mawlawi Habibullah Agha has not received a formal education, said a senior Taliban official. The official said that Agha's appointment is a "setback" to the efforts of some Taliban leaders to reopen girls' schools in Afghanistan.

A senior Taliban official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Afghanistan International that the group's new education minister has not even received basic education. The high-ranking Taliban official added, "The appointment [of Habibullah Agha] is a setback for some Taliban leaders who have made little efforts to reopen girls' secondary schools."

The Taliban on Wednesday announced a list of Cabinet and senior government appointments by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of this group.

According to the decree, Mawlawi Habibullah Agha, the head of the provincial ulema council of Kandahar, has been appointed as the acting minister of education of the Taliban.

Nurullah Monib, who was the Taliban's Minister of Education, has now been appointed as the head of the Taliban's Dar al-Afta.

After the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban on August 15, 2021, the group ordered closure of secondary schools for girls across Afghanistan.