By: Asma Sharifi
A woman took part in many protests to pressure the Taliban to lift the ban on women education and reopen girls’ schools in Afghanistan.
When those protests didn’t yield any positive results, and the Taliban violently suppressed the protesters, she decided to start a different kind of protest — not in the streets.
She has turned her own house into a secret school for girls, defying the Taliban who have kept the gates of girls’ secondary schools closed since they seized power last year.
“I hope the individuals who have facilities and resources help educate girls so they don’t remain illiterate,” she said. “We, women, should change our fighting approach from the streets to work for our generation” even in our own houses.
The Taliban closed girls schools after they took power in August. In March, they allowed girls who study in primary schools and female university students to return to their classes. But the ban on girls’ secondary education continues – for more than 240 days. Millions of schoolgirls are believed to be out of school.
The effective ban on female education drew widespread national and international condemnations.
The Taliban have shown little willingness to lift the ban, and it is unclear when they may allow schoolgirls of secondary education to return to school, despite mounting pressures from the international community.
Some activists, like the female protester, have opened underground schools to circumvent Taliban’s ban on girls’ education. The protester, whose school is in west Kabul, said at least 60 girls between 13 and 18-year-old study at her school for free.
Rukhshana Media doesn’t reveal the name and the exact location of the school due to safety reasons. Students who study in this underground school welcomed its opening at a time they have been barred from getting education.
“I had completely lost hope. I never imagined I would take a pen and a book in my hand again,” said 17-year-old Arezo, a schoolgirl who studies there. “Not only do I study, I also found new friends here, and it saved me from depression.”
Another high school student, 16-year-old Safaa, said she forgot the lessons she had learned at school because she has not been in a classroom for nine months. But studying at west Kabul underground school has given her an opportunity to refresh her past lessons.
“I wanted to take university preparation courses this year,” she added. “But the schools are closed, and I couldn’t graduate. I have no idea what to do.”
Some educators have started online learning classes for girls to defy the Taliban. But many say online classes may not be a successful experiment because the internet isn’t accessible to all Afghans. Only 22.9 percent of the population, which is about 9.3 million, have access to the internet in Afghanistan, according to DataRepotal, an international data website. Many families cannot afford for the internet at a time most Afghans don’t have enough to eat.
Mahtab, the mother of a student at the secret school, said her daughter is “disappointed” for not being able to go to school and that she is “isolating” herself from others.
“We cannot do anything for her,” she said. “It is difficult to buy cell phone data in this situation.”
A teacher, who teaches at the west Kabul underground school, said studying in the center is helping schoolgirls to remain “hopeful” for the “reopening of their schools” and their “future” by keeping them engaged in educational activities, even when they are not allowed to go to school.
The female protester said she started the underground school about two months ago to teach students important subjects like math, and that she was hoping others come forward to support her and her cause.
“If one girl remains illiterate,” she said, “it holds a society back from developing.”
