The Taliban Ministry of Education will now permit girls from first to sixth grade to continue their studies.

The Taliban ministry of education issued a letter asking administrators to open schools and academic centres for girls below sixth grade.

The action comes weeks after the Taliban government ruling in Afghanistan banned women's education, with the higher education ministry demanding an indefinite ban on university education for women in Afghanistan, drawing condemnation from the global community, including Muslim-majority nations.

Despite initially pledging a more sensible rule respecting rights for women and minorities, the Taliban government has widely enforced its strict interpretation of Islamic law since taking control of the country in August 2021.

They prohibited girls from middle and high school, restricted women from most employment, and instructed them to wear head-to-toe apparel in public. Women were also forbidden from parks and gyms and prevented from travelling without a male.

Human Rights Watch named this move a shameful decision that clearly shows the Taliban's lack of respect for the fundamental rights of Afghans.

International governments, including the US, said that a shift in policies on women's education is required before it can consider formally identifying the Taliban-run government, which is also subject to heavy sanctions.

The ministers of the G7 group- Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the UK, the US, and the European Union--had encouraged the Taliban to cancel the ban, warning that gender persecution may count as an offense against humanity. The ministers had warned that Taliban approaches developed to erase women from public life will have outcomes for how our nations engage with the Taliban.

Qatar, Turkey, and Pakistan, all Muslim countries, had expressed their disappointment at the university prohibition and insisted authorities cancel or reconsider their decision. Qatar had reached on the Afghan caretaker government to reconsider the ban in line with the teachings of Islam on women’s education.

However, Nida Mohammad Nadim, the minister of higher education in the Taliban government, supported the ban on women's education, commenting that it was introduced to control the mixing of genders in universities and because he believes some subjects being instructed violated the principles of Islam. The Afghan education minister said that foreigners should stop meddling in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.