Kabul [Afghanistan], January 23 (ANI): Afghanistan's Ministry of Education said schools will be opened from spring this year.

Officials at the Ministry of Education (MoE) said it will reopen schools for all age groups, both girls and boys, at the beginning of the new solar year, according to Tolo News.

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In the meantime, residents urged the government to take steps to reopen schools and universities for Afghan girls.

Earlier, US special representative to Afghanistan Thomas West said girls' education was an important aspect that will attract international investment.

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Further, MoE Education officials said that they will decide over girls' schools without considering external pressures, adding that schools were closed temporarily across Afghanistan and will be opened in the coming spring.

"If the international community and US pay the salaries of teachers or not, we, as the government, will open schools in the spring and this decision does not link with the demands of the US and international community," said Aziz Ahmad Reyan, head of the Publication and Public Relations of the MoE.

On the other hand, Ahmad Taqqi, spokesman of the ministry said that ministry of higher education is making efforts to open universities very soon.

Earlier, most of the schools and universities were closed in Afghanistan after the takeover by the Taliban in Kabul last August. (ANI)

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