KABUL: Ahmadullah Faizi was happy when he found a way for his 16-year-old daughter to continue her education after the Taliban closed her school in Kabul three years ago.
She took online classes in photography and design, and while virtual learning wasn't exactly what the girl had planned for her — she wanted to study computer science after graduating high school — it provided some temporary relief.
“He's very creative … The online learning program helped him acquire new skills,” Faizi said.
“He's very happy and helps everyone in the family with career development. He creates brand names and logos and works on different videos that he clicks on his phone. “
Faizi's daughter is one of around 1.1 million girls who have been denied formal education since September 2021 — a month after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and suspended primary schooling. second to them.
Neither domestic appeals nor international pressure helped lift the ban, which Taliban officials repeatedly said was an “internal matter,” when they later extended the ban to universities, where students more than 100,000 women are prevented from completing their degrees.
With public educational institutions reserved for girls, madrassas — Islamic schools focused on religious training — online classes are the only 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 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 users of 'thousands since starting the digital training program two years ago.
“Many of them have been able to increase their network with experts from different countries and the possibility of working remotely, and some have started higher degrees online. These activities have given them valuable skills and a sense of empowerment and independence in a society where standardization is restricted,” said Dr. Zahra Nazari, director of Women in Tech Afghanistan, to Arab News.
“We have trained more than 3,000 Afghan women through a variety of programs, including coding, AI, data science and digital literacy.”
While such education offers opportunity and hope — even if it is limited to those who have the equipment and Internet connection to access it — there is no illusion that it can replace real schools and universities, or helping women to be independent when there are also restrictions in their work. .
“Short-term and online programs can only offer a temporary and incomplete solution,” said Faizi, whose daughter, despite learning skills, was unable to apply them.
“Unless schools and universities are reopened and women are allowed to have better jobs, the situation of girls and women will not change.”
Shabana Amiri, a 20-year-old from Kabul who will graduate from high school in 2021, tried an online class and although she thought it was good, there was no way they could offer an option for formal education.
“In school and university, we do work and gain life-long experience, but in short courses we only learn limited skills. The only way out is to reopen schools and universities,” he said.
“Otherwise, most girls want to leave the country to pursue education. I don't want to stay in Afghanistan and become illiterate for the rest of my life.”
