KABUL: Ahmadullah Faizi was happy 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 courses in graphics and design, 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 helped her acquire new skills,” Faizi said.
“She is very happy and always offers help to everyone in the family in designing tasks. He designs brand names and logos and works with various videos that he clicks on his 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 seized control of Afghanistan and suspended secondary schools.
Neither domestic 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, blocking more than 100,000 female students from completing their studies.
With the only public educational institutions allowed for girls being madrasahs – Islamic schools that focus on religious education – online courses were the only option available to access modern education.
It is unclear how many girls and women are involved in online education 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 Afghanistan chapter of Women in Tech International – a global NGO promoting and supporting the success of women in technology – has registered thousands of users since launching its digital training programs two years ago.
“Many of them have been able to expand their networks with professionals from different countries and opportunities to work remotely, and some have started advanced studies online. These initiatives have provided them with valuable skills and a sense of empowerment and independence in a society where formal educational opportunities are limited,” Dr. Zahra Nazari, National Director of Women in Tech Afghanistan.
“We have trained more than 3,000 Afghan women through a variety of programs, including coding, artificial intelligence, data science and digital literacy.”
While such courses offer opportunity and hope – even if they are limited to those with the equipment 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 limitations in their work.
“Short-term and online programs can only offer temporary and incomplete solutions,” said Faizi, whose daughter, despite learning design skills, could not put them into practice.
“Until schools and universities are reopened and women are allowed to have better job opportunities, the situation of girls and women will remain the same.”
Shabana Amiri, a 20-year-old girl from Kabul who will graduate from high school in 2021, tried online courses and although she thinks they were good, there was no way they could 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 and get an education. I don't want to stay in Afghanistan and become illiterate for the rest of my life.'
