{"id":37056,"date":"2025-06-12T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T08:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/?p=37056"},"modified":"2025-06-12T12:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T08:30:02","slug":"no-matter-the-cost-afghanistans-secret-schools-survive-against-the-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/no-matter-the-cost-afghanistans-secret-schools-survive-against-the-odds\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No matter the cost\u2019 &#8211; Afghanistan\u2019s secret schools survive against the odds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Haniya Frotan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mahnaz was just 15 when the Taliban returned to power and brought in a blanket ban on older girls attending school. Like many teenage girls in Afghanistan, she was devastated and furious. She was also determined to fight a ban that she saw as senseless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within months Mahnaz, now 19, had turned her small home in a remote and impoverished village in southern Afghanistan into a hidden classroom, creating a sanctuary for women and girls trapped in the darkness of&nbsp; illiteracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI never gave up,\u201d she says in a phone interview with Rukhshana Media. \u201cI started [this initiative] from scratch to continue the education of girls and women who need literacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly four years have passed since the Taliban excluded girls over 12 from attending school. Since then, the ban has denied 1.4 million girls access to education, according to the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO. The knock-on effects for young women and girls are devastating, ranging from depression and suicide to forced marriages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the restrictions imposed by the Taliban have grown, so has the determination of many young Afghan women like Mahnaz. Alongside online schools and distance learning, secret classrooms like hers have become one of the key ways Afghan women and girls resist the Taliban\u2019s education ban, and examples can now be found across Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The demand is huge, and mostly unmet. When Mahnaz first embarked on the project in 2022 in a small, unfurnished room, she had 30 students and no equipment. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have a whiteboard, not even a marker,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just a few months later, the number of students swelled to 200. By the second year, it had reached 450, 200 of whom were adult women attending literacy classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The female literacy rate in Afghanistan is just 22.6%, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unesco.org\/en\/fieldoffice\/kabul\/expertise\/education\/literacy-learning-possibilities#:~:text=The%20literacy%20rate%20of%20Afghanistan,Literacy%20and%20Skills%2Dbased%20Literacy.\">figures from UNESCO<\/a> \u2013 less than half the rate for men and significantly below that of neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the two decades after the Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan in 2001, the number of girls enrolled in primary school rose from nearly none to 2.5 million, and female literacy almost doubled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For young Afghan women, the rollback of hard-won rights is particularly devastating. They saw the impact not being able to read had on their mothers, and hoped their own lives would be different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mahnaz\u2019s determination to keep going is deep-rooted. Growing up, she says, she was aware that her mother had little agency over her own life because she couldn\u2019t read or write. One story Mahnaz tells encapsulates the power of teaching adult women like her mother to read \u2013 and the satisfaction it brings her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of our students in the literacy class managed to find a clinic she needed without any help because she could read the signs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen she told us the story, her eyes sparkled with joy. She proudly said, \u2018I\u2019m no longer blind. Now I look at the world around me with open eyes\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such moments help Mahnaz to keep going in the face of manifold challenges, from the risks of running an underground school to the lack of funds to keep it going. With the help of a relative, she hired four teachers in her first year and bought basic educational supplies. But the money only lasted a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Struggling with financial difficulties, dealing with the Taliban\u2019s morality police, dealing with families\u2019 fears of Taliban retaliation\u2014each of these challenges alone could be enough to shut down Mahnaz\u2019s secret school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/78-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37058\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/78-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/78-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/78-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/78.webp 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Image: supplied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Due to these pressures, the number of students, including girls and adult women in literacy classes, has dwindled to 180.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Poor internet connectivity is another challenge when it comes to using online learning tools in the secret classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAlongside my own lessons, the girls attend online classes. But in our impoverished area, many lack access to smartphones or reliable internet,\u201d Mahnaz says. \u201cSometimes, a 20-minute session takes an hour to complete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like all the Afghan women who are giving up their time to teach others, Mahnaz is taking a huge risk. Rukhshana Media is not disclosing any details of her location or the methods she uses to avoid detection by the Taliban, but they are extensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the dangers, such initiatives must continue, says Mohammad Sardar Rahimi, who was deputy minister of literacy in Afghanistan before the Taliban took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSuch centres represent a form of civil resistance against the educational deprivation of women and girls,\u201d he says They foster hope and mobilize communities. That\u2019s why these efforts \u2013 whether online or underground \u2013 must continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rahimi points out that women\u2019s exclusion has knock-on effects for their children, and for society as a whole, because women play such a key part in shaping the next generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is a sentiment Mahnaz holds dear. \u201cI don\u2019t want that cycle to continue,\u201d she says. \u201cThe girls in our village must be educated\u2014no matter the cost.\u201d<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>* Name has been changed to protect identity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mahnaz was just 15 when the Taliban returned to power and brought in a blanket ban on older girls attending school. Like many teenage girls in Afghanistan, she was devastated and furious. She was also determined to fight a ban that she saw as senseless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":37057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9581,902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-work-en","category-reports-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018No matter the cost\u2019 - Afghanistan\u2019s secret schools survive against the odds - Rukhshana Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Poor internet connectivity is another challenge when it comes to using online learning tools in the secret classroom.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/no-matter-the-cost-afghanistans-secret-schools-survive-against-the-odds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018No matter the cost\u2019 - Afghanistan\u2019s secret schools survive against the odds - Rukhshana Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Poor internet connectivity is another challenge when it comes to using online learning tools in the secret classroom.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/no-matter-the-cost-afghanistans-secret-schools-survive-against-the-odds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rukhshana Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-12T08:30:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-12T08:30:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/79.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"570\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zahra Joya\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zahra Joya\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rukhshana.com\\\/en\\\/no-matter-the-cost-afghanistans-secret-schools-survive-against-the-odds\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rukhshana.com\\\/en\\\/no-matter-the-cost-afghanistans-secret-schools-survive-against-the-odds\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zahra Joya\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rukhshana.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/81fe74a0084915bd77a41d3a03821a91\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018No matter the cost\u2019 &#8211; 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