Barred from school, Afghan girls find temporary relief in online classes

KABUL: Ahmadullah Faizi was glad when his 16-year-old daughter found a way to continue learning after the Taliban closed her school in Kabul three years ago.

She took online classes in graphics and design, and while virtual learning was not exactly what the girl had planned for herself — she wanted to study computer science after graduating from high school — it offered some temporary relief.

“She is very creative … The online learning program helped her gain new skills,” Faizi said.

“She’s very happy and always offers everyone in the family help with designing tasks. She designs brand names and logos and works with different 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 secondary schools for them.

Neither appeals at home nor international pressure have since helped to lift the ban, which Taliban authorities have repeatedly said was an “internal matter,” as they later extended the ban to universities, with more than 100,000 female students blocked from finishing their degrees.

With the only public educational institutions allowed for girls being madrasas — Islamic schools that focus on religious training — online classes have been the sole available option to access modern education.

It is not clear how many girls and women are involved 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 NGO promoting and supporting the achievements of women in technology — has registered thousands of users since starting its digital training programs two years ago.

“Many of them have been able to grow their networks with experts from different countries and remote work opportunities, and some have started their advanced degrees online. These initiatives have provided them with valuable skills and a sense of empowerment and independence in a society where formal educational opportunities are restricted,” Dr. Zahra Nazari, country director of Women in Tech Afghanistan, told Arab News.

“We have trained over 3,000 Afghan women through various programs, including coding, AI, data science and digital literacy.”

While such courses offer an opportunity and hope — although limited to those who have the devices and internet connection to access them — there is no illusion that they could substitute real schools and universities, or help women be independent when there are also restrictions on their work.

“The short-term and online programs can offer only temporary and incomplete solutions,” said Faizi, whose daughter despite learning design skills has not been able to put them into practice.

“Unless schools and universities are reopened and women are allowed to have better work opportunities, the situation of girls and women will remain the same.”

Shabana Amiri, a 20-year-old from Kabul who graduated from high school in 2021, has tried online classes and while she thinks they were good, there was no way they could offer an alternative to formal education.

“At school and university, we are making a career and get lifelong experiences whereas in the short-term courses, we learn only limited skills. The only way out is to reopen schools and universities,” she said.

“Otherwise, most of the girls would want to leave the country to pursue an education. I don’t want to stay in Afghanistan and become illiterate for the rest of my life.”