KABUL: Ahmadullah Faizi was delighted 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 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 education program helped her gain new skills,” Faizi said.
“She is very happy and always offers everyone in the family help with design tasks. She designs brands and logos and works on 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 seized control of Afghanistan and closed secondary schools to them.
Neither domestic appeals nor international pressure have since helped 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 completing their degree.
Since the only public educational institutions allowed for girls are madrasas – Islamic schools that focus on religious training – online courses have been the only option available to access modern education.
It is not clear 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 Afghan chapter of Women in Tech International – a global NGO that promotes and supports women's achievements in technology – has registered thousands of users since launching its digital education programs two years ago.
“Many of them have been able to expand their networks with experts from different countries and opportunities to work remotely, and some have started their advanced degrees online. These initiatives have given them valuable skills and a sense of autonomy 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 over 3,000 Afghan women through various programs, including coding, AI, data science and digital skills.”
While such courses offer a possibility and a hope – even if they are limited to those with the devices and the internet connection to access them – there is no illusion that they could replace real schools and universities or help women become independent when There are also restrictions on their work.
“The short-term and online programs can only offer temporary and incomplete solutions,” says 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 job opportunities, the situation for 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 courses and while she thinks they were good, there was no way they could offer an alternative to formal education.
“At school and university, we make a career and gain life-long experiences, while in the short-term courses we only learn limited skills. The only way out is to open schools and universities again, she says.
“Otherwise, most of the girls would want to leave the country to study. I don't want to stay in Afghanistan and be illiterate for the rest of my life.”
