Taliban's madrasa expansion: Shared by Niloufar

Newly graduated students from Manba-ul-Jihad madrassa attend their graduation ceremony in Khost. Photo: AFP, 24 January 2025

Title: A Parallel Education System: The Taliban’s madrasa expansion and its implications for gender, society and regional security
Author: Timor Sharan
Publication: Afghanistan Analysts Network
Date: 5 October 2026
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Summary: Drawing on HAMRAH Network fieldwork in Kandahar and Bamyan and interviews with more than 34 people, the article reports that registered religious education institutions increased from approximately 5,000 before August 2021 to over 23,000 by September 2025, through registration of existing madrasas, new establishments and conversion of public education facilities. It documents centralised Taliban control, recruitment into Taliban structures, pressure on religious minorities, and teaching and surveillance that reinforce restrictions on women and girls, while identifying state funding, business contributions and religious taxation as financing sources. The author identifies ideological formation as the principal security concern, while stating that available evidence does not establish that jihadi madrasas are systematically producing battlefield combatants.

Quotes:
“Across all 34 provinces, teacher training institutes were shuttered and converted into jihadi madrasas, while the Ministry of Education simultaneously abolished its Teacher Training Department entirely.”

“Female madrasas have become, since the Taliban’s ban on girls’ secondary and further education, the only remaining legal education option for girls above grade six.”

“The primary concern is not that jihadi madrasas are systematically producing battlefield combatants – available evidence does not support that conclusion at this stage.”