(Reuters) – Some Afghan girls returned to primary schools with gender-segregated classes on Saturday, but older girls faced an anxious wait with no clarity over if and when they would be able to resume their studies at the secondary school level.

Since the Taliban took over Kabul, most schools have been closed.

Officials from Taliban say that they won’t return to fundamentalist policies, including the ban on girls getting an education, when they ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.

The Taliban officials have made it clear that they will not allow girls to return to the fundamentalist policies that were in place from 1996 to 2001 when they ruled Afghanistan. However, this promise is only for those who live in separate classrooms.

Nazife is a Kabul-based teacher in a private school that had previously had mixed classrooms prior to the Taliban overthrow.

According to her, “Girls learn in the morning while boys study in the afternoon.” “Male teachers instruct boys while female teachers teach girls,” she said.

Many other schoolgirls, who are both teachers at primary and secondary levels, were also uncertain.

The education ministry announced Friday that secondary schools for boys would soon be reopened, without mentioning girls.

Hadis Rezaei (who teaches secondary school girls) said that their spirits were low and they are waiting to hear from the government so they can resume learning.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, told local Bakhtar News Agency that plans were in place to reopen secondary girls schools. However, he did not give a date.

“The education and empowerment of girls are the key to fixing our generation. Mohammadreza, the principal of the school said that while education for boys can affect families, education for girls has a positive impact on society.

We will be closely watching the issue so that girls may resume their education and continue with their studies.