KABUL: Ahmadullah Faizi was happy 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 graphics and design courses, and while virtual learning wasn't exactly what the girl had planned for herself — she wanted to study computer science after high school — it offered some temporary relief.
“She is very creative… The online learning program has helped her acquire new skills,” Faizi said.
“She is very happy and always offers help to everyone in the family in designing tasks. She creates brand names and logos and works with different videos that she clicks with her phone.”
Faizi's daughter is one of an estimated 1.1 million girls who have been denied access to formal education since September 2021 – a month after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and suspended their secondary schools.
Neither house calls nor international pressure have since helped lift the ban, which Taliban authorities have repeatedly said is an “internal matter” as they later extended the ban to universities, with more than 100,000 female students blocked from – finish his studies.
Since the only public educational institutions allowed to girls are madrassas – Islamic schools that focus on religious training – online courses were the only option available to access modern education.
It is unclear how many girls and women are involved in online learning in a country where less than 20% of the population has access to the internet.
One of the leading organizations offering online courses, the Afghan chapter of Women in Tech International—a global NGO that promotes and supports the achievements of women in technology—has registered thousands of users since it began its digital training programs two years ago.
“Many of them were able to develop their networks with experts from different countries and remote work opportunities, and some started their advanced studies online. These initiatives have given them valuable skills and a sense of empowerment and independence in a society where formal educational opportunities are limited,” Dr. Zahra Nazari, Country Director of Women in Tech Afghanistan, told Arab News.
“We have trained more than 3,000 Afghan women through various 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 connection to access them – there is no illusion that they can replace real schools and universities or help women be independent when there are also restrictions on their work. .
“Short-term and online programs can only provide temporary and incomplete solutions,” said Faizi, whose daughter, despite her design skills, was unable to put them into practice.
“Unless schools and universities are reopened and women are not allowed to have better job opportunities, the situation for girls and women will remain the same.”
Shabana Amiri, a 20-year-old from Kabul who will graduate high school in 2021, tried online classes, and while she thought they were good, there was no way to provide an alternative to formal education.
“At school and university, we build a career and gain lifelong experiences, whereas in short 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 become illiterate for the rest of my life.”
