KABUL: Ahmadullah Faizi was delighted when his 16-year-old daughter found a way to continue her education after the Taliban closed her school in Kabul three years ago.
She took online classes in graphics and design, and while virtual learning wasn't exactly what she had planned for herself — she wanted to study computer science after high school — it brought some relief.
“She's very creative … The online learning program helped her learn new skills,” Faizi said.
“She is very happy and always offers everyone in the family help with homework. She designs brand names and logos and works with various videos that she clicks with her phone.'
Faizi's daughter is one of around 1.1 million girls who have been denied access to formal education since September 2021 – a month after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and suspended their secondary schools.
Since then, neither domestic appeals nor international pressure have helped to lift the ban, which Taliban authorities have repeatedly said is an “internal matter”, as they later extended the ban to universities, leaving more than 100,000 female students unable to graduate.
Since the only public educational institutions allowed for girls are madrassas — Islamic schools that focus on religious instruction — online classes were the only available option to access modern education.
It is unclear how many girls and women participate in online learning in a country where less than 20 percent of the population has access to the Internet.
One of the main organizations offering online courses, the Afghan chapter of Women in Tech International—a global non-governmental organization that promotes and supports the achievements of women in technology—has registered thousands of users since launching its digital learning programs two years ago.
“Many of them have been able to expand their connections with experts from different countries and remote work opportunities, and some have started to earn degrees online. These initiatives have given them valuable skills and a sense of empowerment and independence in a society where opportunities for formal education are limited,” Dr. Zahra Nazari, head of Women in Technology Afghanistan, told Arab News.
“We have trained more than 3,000 Afghan women in a variety of programs including coding, artificial intelligence, data science and digital literacy.”
While such courses offer opportunity and hope—albeit limited to those with the devices and Internet connections to access—there is no illusion that they can replace real schools and universities or help women be independent, if also there are restrictions on their work.
“Short-term and online programs can only offer temporary and incomplete solutions,” said Faizi, whose daughter, despite having learned design skills, was unable to put them into practice.
“Until schools and universities are reopened and women are allowed better job opportunities, the situation of girls and women will remain the same.”
Shabana Amiri, a 20-year-old from Kabul who will graduate from high school in 2021, tried online classes, and while she thinks they were good, they couldn't offer an alternative to formal education.
“At school and university we build careers and gain life-long experiences, whereas in short-term courses we only learn limited skills. The only way out is to reopen schools and universities,” she said.
“Otherwise, most girls would want to leave the country to get an education. I don't want to stay in Afghanistan and be illiterate for the rest of my life.”
