Afghanistan Peace Campaign
The expansion of religious schools (Madrassas) under current rule could permanently reshape Afghanistan’s social fabric and deepen the country’s education crisis, Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, has warned in a new report.
Bennett said that while religious education has long been part of Afghanistan’s education system, the rapid expansion of madrassas is raising concerns because they are increasingly replacing rather than complementing formal education.
According to Bennett’s report, the number of registered religious schools increased from about 5,000 before the Taliban returned to power to more than 23,000 by September 2025.
The report describes the expansion as part of a broader centralisation of religious education. Bennett warned that the trend, combined with restrictions on formal education, particularly the continued exclusion of girls from secondary schools and universities could have lasting social and economic consequences for Afghanistan.
For girls barred from secondary education, madrassas have become one of the few remaining avenues for continued learning. However, Bennett said concerns remain about the content of instruction, the restrictions placed on students and the activities permitted within these institutions.
His findings are consistent with separate reporting on Afghanistan’s expanding madrasa system. An Al Jazeera report based on news-agency material found that madrasa enrollment had increased significantly as families sought alternatives amid weaknesses in the formal education system. It also noted that many madrassas focus primarily on Quranic memorisation, Islamic jurisprudence and Arabic, with some incorporating basic subjects such as mathematics and English.
Bennett said he had heard repeated concerns from families about changes in the attitudes and behaviour of children attending religious schools.
Women and girls have also reported that some boys and male relatives studying in madrassas have become more controlling toward female family members, including over their clothing and behaviour, according to the report.
The report cites the account of a girl whose sister attended a madrasa in Kabul and had a strong interest in painting. After a teacher told her that drawing was contrary to Sharia, she stopped painting.
Bennett warned that the growing influence of religious education should be considered alongside the wider restrictions imposed on Afghanistan’s formal education system. The UN has repeatedly called for inclusive and equitable access to education for Afghan women and girls, while the Taliban continue to bar girls from secondary and higher education.
Recent research by the HAMRAH Network has similarly described the madrasa expansion as the development of a parallel, state-aligned religious education system. The organisation reported more than 23,000 registered madrassas with more than 3.65 million students by September 2025 and warned of the system’s potential implications for gender relations and Afghanistan’s long-term stability. Bennett has discussed the findings in international human rights forums.
The expansion of religious schools comes as Afghanistan faces a deepening education crisis, particularly for girls. Human rights organisations and UN bodies have warned that the exclusion of girls from secondary and higher education is depriving millions of Afghan women and girls of educational opportunities and narrowing the country’s future pool of skilled professionals.
Bennett’s warning suggests that the consequences of Afghanistan’s changing education system may extend beyond access to schooling, potentially affecting family relations, gender norms, employment opportunities and the country’s broader social development for years to come.