Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unexpectedly decided against reopening schools on Wednesday to girls above the sixth year, reneging on a promise and further alienating the international community.
Suhail Shaheen, a senior Taliban member based in Qatar, said the postponed opening of girls' schools was due to a technical issue and the Ministry of Education was working on standardised uniforms for students around the country.
"We hope the uniform issue is resolved and finalised as soon as possible," he said.
"As women and as foreign ministers, we are deeply disappointed and concerned that girls in Afghanistan are being denied access to secondary schools this spring," the foreign ministers of Albania, Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Kosovo, Malawi, Mongolia, New Zealand, Sweden, Tonga and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement.
They said the decision "is particularly disturbing as we repeatedly heard their commitments to open all schools for all children".
"We call upon the Taliban to reverse their recent decision and to grant equal access to all levels of education, in all provinces of the country," they added.
The world has been reluctant to officially recognise Afghanistan's new rulers, concerned the Taliban would impose similar harsh measures and restrictions - particularly limiting women's rights to education and work - as when they previously ruled the country in the late 1990s.
The ministers said they will "watch closely whether the Taliban deliver on their assurances".
"We will measure them by their actions, not by their words," they said.
"The scope and extent of our countries' engagement in Afghanistan beyond humanitarian assistance will be tied to their achievements in this regard."
They said access to education is a human right to which every girl and woman is entitled and that "no country can afford to not take advantage of the potential and talent of its entire people".
with reporting from Reuters
