KABUL: Ahmadullah Faizi was happy when his 16-year-old daughter found an opportunity to continue her education after the Taliban closed her school in Kabul three years ago.
She took online courses in graphics and design. Even though virtual learning didn't quite fit her plans – she wanted to study computer science after graduating from high school – it did provide her with some temporary relief.
“She is very creative… The online learning program has helped her acquire new skills,” Faizi said.
“She is very cheerful and always offers to help everyone in the family with design tasks. She designs brand names and logos and works with various videos that she records 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.
Since then, neither domestic appeals nor international pressure have helped to lift the ban. The Taliban authorities repeatedly declared that it was an “internal matter”. They later extended the ban to universities. More than 100,000 female students were unable to complete their studies.
Since the only public educational institutions available to girls are madrasas – Islamic schools with a focus on religious education – online education is the only way to gain access to a 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 is the Afghan branch of Women in Tech International – a global NGO that promotes and supports the achievements of women in the technology industry – which 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 experts from different countries and remote work locations, and some have started their further studies 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, Country Director of Women in Tech Afghanistan, told Arab News.
“We have trained over 3,000 Afghan women in various programs including coding, AI, data science and digital literacy.”
While such courses offer opportunity and hope – even if they are only available to those with the necessary equipment and an internet connection – there is no illusion that they can replace real schools and universities or help women become independent when their employment opportunities are limited.
“The short-term and online programs can only provide temporary and incomplete solutions,” says Faizi, whose daughter, despite learning design skills, was unable to put them into practice.
“As long as schools and universities do not reopen and women are not given better job 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. While she likes them, she could not describe them as an alternative to regular schooling.
“At school and university, we build careers and gain life experiences, while in short-term courses we learn only 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.”
