Date: 17/08/1404
Taliban in Kandahar to Transfer Students With Low Scores on Religious Exam to Jihadi Schools
Sources from the Kandahar Directorate of Education have told Afghanistan International that in the coming days, a comprehensive exam will be held across all schools in the province to assess students’ level of religious knowledge. Students who receive low scores on this exam will be transferred from regular schools to religious (madrasa) institutions.

These sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Saturday that students of all grades including first, second, third, and fourth will be required to sit for this exam.

It is also reported that this religious knowledge assessment will be administered in girls’ schools below the sixth grade.
A source from the Kandahar Directorate of Education said: “The religious knowledge exam in schools will be conducted based on the proposal and consultation of the Kandahar Ulema Council. A meeting was held yesterday, and it was decided that the exam must be implemented in all schools. The Directorate of Education has verbally instructed school principals to prepare for the exam.
Several families have expressed concern over the decision, saying that their children will be deprived of modern education as a result. Ehsanullah, a resident of Kandahar city, said, “Now there is a madrasa in every street of the city, and the number of religious schools is greater than official schools. Whatever intention the Taliban may have, it would be better if they at least hired qualified teachers to teach religious studies in the madrasas.”
He added: “If children are expelled from official schools and transferred to madrasas, what future will they have? What can we possibly do with so many mullahs and reciters?”.

The Taliban have previously conducted similar religious proficiency exams in universities and government institutions.

This entry documents a directive in Kandahar Province to assess students’ religious knowledge and transfer those with low scores from formal schools to religious institutions. The measure reflects the use of educational policy to enforce ideological conformity, linking access to general education to religious performance and indicating the restructuring of the education system toward religious instruction at the expense of broader learning opportunities.