Almost 80% of girls have been denied their right to education in provinces in Afghanistan where secondary schools have remained closed for girls, almost a month since the Taliban extended the ban on secondary school girls attending classes. Secondary schools for girls were ordered to shut down in late March, just hours after being reopened for the first time since the Taliban’s return to power in August. The shocking U-turn came after a secret meeting of the group’s leadership in the city of Kandahar, the Taliban’s de facto power centre. Officials have never justified the ban, apart from sayin…