The number of male university students in Afghanistan has fallen by about one-third since 2019, while women have disappeared from formal higher education and the country’s university teaching workforce has contracted sharply, according to a new report by UNICEF and UNESCO.
The Afghanistan Education Situation Report 2026 says about 208,000 male students were enrolled in higher education in 2026, down from an estimated 306,000 in 2019. Female enrollment, meanwhile, fell from about 119,000 in 2019 to 89,000 in 2022, almost zero in 2023 and zero from 2024 onward.
The figures show that the contraction in higher education extends beyond the Taliban’s ban on women attending universities and includes a substantial decline in participation among men.
The report cites reduced household ability to pay for higher education, weaker employment prospects for graduates and financial pressure on private universities as factors affecting participation.
Women have been barred from university education since December 2022. UNICEF and UNESCO warn that their exclusion has consequences beyond university enrollment because higher education provides the qualifications needed for professions including health care, education and academia.
UNESCO estimates that if the suspension of women’s access to higher education continues, the cumulative economic loss to Afghanistan could reach about $9.6 billion by 2066.
University teaching workforce shrinks
The report also documents a sharp decline in Afghanistan’s university teaching workforce.
The number of professors and lecturers fell from about 18,900 in 2019 to 12,700 in 2025, a decline of roughly one-third.
The decrease was particularly severe among women. Afghanistan had about 2,600 female university professors and lecturers in 2019. That number fell to around 1,100 in 2023, 800 in 2024 and just over 100 in 2025.
Male academic staff numbers also declined, though less sharply.
UNICEF and UNESCO say the near disappearance of female academics has reduced university expertise and mentorship while weakening the pool of professionals that would be needed if women were allowed to return to higher education.
The number of higher education institutions, however, has remained relatively stable. Afghanistan had 166 public and private tertiary institutions in 2019. The number fell to 161 in 2023 before rising to 170 in 2024, including 40 public and 130 private institutions.
The report says those figures mask significant financial pressures, particularly among private universities, which have lost tuition revenue following the exclusion of female students.
In August 2026, the Taliban-run Higher Education Ministry suspended seven private higher education institutions for one year and revoked the licenses of two others, citing administrative, academic and compliance issues following an evaluation, according to the report.
Fewer Kankor candidates, higher qualification rate
The contraction is also visible in Afghanistan’s university entrance examination.
About 118,000 people participated in the Kankor exam in 2026, compared with 210,000 in 2020. No female participation has been reported since 2023.
About 75,000 candidates qualified for higher education in 2026, up from 41,000 in 2024 and 44,000 in 2023, but below the roughly 81,000 who qualified in 2020.
The report says the higher proportion of successful candidates despite the lower number of applicants suggests university admission has become less competitive. About 63% of candidates qualified in 2026, compared with 39% in 2020.
The shrinking pipeline begins before university. Boys’ enrollment in Grades 10 through 12 fell from about 750,000 in 2023 to 700,000 in 2024 and 660,000 in 2025. The male gross enrollment ratio at the upper-secondary level fell from 48.5% in 2023 to 40% in 2025.
Girls remain entirely excluded from formal secondary education beyond Grade 6. UNICEF estimates that more than 2.6 million girls have been denied secondary education since restrictions were imposed in 2021.
679 university books and materials ordered removed
Higher education has also undergone significant curriculum changes under Taliban authorities.
The report says public and private universities were instructed in 2025 to remove 679 books and learning materials and discontinue 18 academic subjects, including subjects related to human rights, democracy, gender, governance and other social sciences.
More than 200 additional subjects were reportedly retained pending revision.
UNICEF and UNESCO say the changes raise concerns about the breadth of academic education, particularly in the humanities, law and social sciences.
Curriculum changes are also taking place at the school level. In Grades 1 through 3, Islamic education accounted for about 24% of weekly instructional time under the 2021 curriculum, rising to about 42% under a teaching plan approved in 2023.
Monitoring in July and August 2026 found religious subjects accounted for just over 10 hours a week in Grades 1 through 3, compared with six hours under the 2021 timetable. The report says available information also documents the removal of references to civic values, human rights, women’s rights and international institutions from curriculum materials.
Islamic education expands to 2.46 million students
The contraction in formal secondary and higher education has coincided with a major expansion of Islamic education.
The number of Islamic education institutions rose from 1,127 in 2019 to 17,832 in 2023 and about 20,700 in 2025, according to administrative data cited in the report.
Those institutions reported about 2.46 million students and 84,000 teachers in 2025. Girls accounted for about 716,000 students, or 29% of reported enrollment.
UNICEF and UNESCO caution that limited independent verification of the data makes it difficult to fully assess participation, quality and learning outcomes in Islamic education.
Vocational education increasingly male
Similar gender disparities are evident in technical and vocational education and training.
Formal TVET enrollment stood at about 58,000 students in 2025, down about 8% from 63,000 in 2019.
Male enrollment increased from roughly 49,000 in 2019 to 57,000 in 2025, meaning the decline was driven by the disappearance of active female participation.
About 15,000 TVET graduates were reported in 2025, all of them male. The number of formal instructors also fell from around 5,700 in 2019 to 2,900 in 2023 before recovering to about 4,200 in 2025.
The report describes formal vocational education as having effectively become a pathway for male students, while women, adolescent girls, returnees and other groups increasingly depend on nonformal and informal skills programs.
Learning problems begin in primary school
The report also points to weaknesses much earlier in Afghanistan’s education system.
Reported primary enrollment rose from about 6.04 million students in 2022 to 6.77 million in 2024 before falling to about 6.6 million in 2025.
The primary gross enrollment ratio declined from 95.4% in 2024 to 91% in 2025, indicating that enrollment is not keeping pace with growth in the school-age population.
A 2025 national assessment of more than 55,000 Grade 4 students in 1,856 schools found that only 43.5% had reached minimum proficiency in language and just 25.4% had reached minimum proficiency in mathematics.
An estimated 53% of primary-school-age children, 67% of adolescents of lower-secondary age and 79% of those of upper-secondary age are outside formal general education.
The report says about half of schools lack buildings large enough to accommodate all classes, while many students continue to study in tents, temporary structures or outdoors.
Afghanistan had about 175,800 teachers in public general schools in 2026, of whom nearly 57,800, or 32.9%, were women. Women accounted for only 25.5% of teachers in primary schools.
Among public schools reporting female attendance, 57.3% had no female teacher. That figure rose to 61.8% in rural areas and 75.1% among primary schools.
The report warns that the future supply of female teachers is at particular risk because girls cannot continue formal education beyond Grade 6 and women cannot attend universities. It projects a potential shortage of more than 11,000 female primary teachers by 2030 if current restrictions persist.
Community-based education contracts
Community-based education, which has provided schooling for children in remote areas, has also contracted sharply.
At its peak in 2023, the program reached nearly 1 million students through about 30,000 classes across Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, with girls making up the majority.
By October 2026, about 5,300 classes remained active, serving roughly 162,000 students. About 103,000, or 64%, were girls.
A UNICEF assessment of more than 11,000 community-based classes found only 6% had fully transitioned to public schools, with students both registered and attending. Another 15% had partially transitioned, while 79% had undergone administrative transition without students consistently continuing their education.
The report says declining donor support and the Taliban-run Education Ministry’s decision to phase out the existing community-based education system prompted the shift toward a new community-based school model.
Education sector faces $324 million shortfall
Financial pressures are compounding the challenges.
External basic-needs and humanitarian education financing fell from about $405 million in 2024 to $339 million in 2025 and about $182 million in 2026. Identified resources are projected to fall further to $77 million in 2027.
Afghanistan’s education sector requires about $583 million for 2026 and 2027 but has roughly $258 million in identified financing, leaving a cumulative gap of about $324 million, according to the report.
Available funding is expected to cover about 53% of requirements in 2026 and only 32% in 2027.
Domestic education spending is heavily concentrated on salaries and other recurring costs. In 2025, recurrent education spending totaled about $460 million, while development spending was only around $2 million, leaving infrastructure, teacher training, textbooks and other improvements heavily dependent on foreign funding.
The report estimates that 7.1 million children need education assistance in emergencies in 2026, while large-scale returns from Pakistan and Iran are adding students to communities where schools are already struggling with shortages of classrooms, teachers and learning materials.
UNICEF and UNESCO say Afghanistan’s education system still retains substantial capacity and strong public demand for learning, but warn that restrictions, declining participation, weak learning outcomes and shrinking financing are narrowing the pathway from primary school to secondary education, university, skills development and employment.
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