On the first day of the new year, the gates of schools in all the cold provinces of the country have opened.

With the start of the new academic year, thousands of children are stepping into schools for the first time.

Rahmatullah Jaber, the head of education in Herat, said: "Almost one hundred thousand and seven hundred new students have been enrolled in schools."

Rahim Gul Ahmadi, an official of Kunduz education department, said: "This new year, we have enrolled eighteen thousand and 362 students, God willing, the number is large this year, and the enthusiasm and interest of people in science and knowledge are great."

In the new year, with schools remaining closed to girls above grade six, it has once again caused disappointment for these girls and their families.

Mona Sadat, a student, said: "We were hopeful that the gates of schools would open to girls again; but this year, the school bell rang without the presence of girls, there was not a single girl."

Lailuma Hamidi, a resident of Herat, said: "The issue of starting girls' schools from seventh to twelfth grade has turned into a dream that every woman and man in Afghanistan wishes for girls to go back to school and engage in education and training."

Shamsullah, a religious scholar, said: "The gates of schools, universities, and madrasas should be opened for everyone whether it is a girl or a boy."

Some local officials of the caretaker government in the provinces consider the acquisition of contemporary knowledge a serious need in the country.

Noor Ahmad Islamjar, the governor of Herat, said: "We need to reach technology and progress so that we can have everything like other countries - medicine, doctors, cars, weapons, etc., and this is possible through modern sciences."

Abdul Ali Qudratullah Amini, the governor of Parwan, said: "This misery can be eradicated from the land through education, science, culture, and knowledge."

The new academic year has commenced, yet girl students above six grade across the country have been barred from attending school for over 900 days.