Last week, my friend Shabana invited me to a small gathering of friends in her house. These parties, small gatherings, are the only option that remains for women in Afghanistan to have a little fun: we can get together and speak and have a fun time with each other inside of a house.
At the time, it was the end of the year in Afghanistan. This year, March 21 is Nowroz, which marks the start of the new year in Afghanistan – including the school year. At the gathering, then, everyone was talking about school and the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. Women are barred from attending university, and girls cannot extend their education past grade six. Women and girls have been suffering deeply because of this ban and its impacts.
Shabana told us it has been a year since she started an underground school for girls far from the Taliban’s eyes. She teaches girls various school subjects, showing a great dedication to providing education when access is all other ways is restricted.
When the Taliban took over, Shabana was studying at university, achieving her dreams and goals. Because of the Taliban closure of the universities, she was banned from continuing her education. But she did not give up and instead started to teach girls in her house.
“Being deprived of education means turning off the future, taking away the future of the next generation,” she said. “The girls who are deprived of education today are the mothers and leaders of the future.”
Shabana believes that teaching in such homeschools and hidden schools is not only an educational activity, but also a movement to save Afghanistan’s society.
“Every lesson taught in these spaces is a seed of education that could change the next generation,” she said, telling me about the importance of her teaching.
However, her mother stressed a different aspect of her daughter’s devotion to homeschooling: the danger.
Having an underground school in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, defying their ban on girls’ education, is not safe or easy. It is always dangerous to resist and stand against the rule of a government.
Shabana’s mother said that she worries every day her daughter has classes and the girls come to their house.
“I do not leave the house. I stay home and I read the Quran and pray for the safety of these girls, the safety of my daughter, and for the safety of our house,” Shabana’s mother said. “I pray for us to be protected and hidden from the eyes of the Taliban so these girls can come to our house and study something and learn and then safely go back to their houses.”
“I’m scared. I’m scared as any other mother would be scared for the safety of her children,” she continued. “But when I see that in this crisis, my daughter can offer something for these deprived girls – that gives me the energy and the passion to do everything to continue.”
It is always a very painful and heartbreaking conversation, talking about the issue of women’s rights in Afghanistan. Despite the bravery of women like Shabana none of us – none of the women who attended this small gathering – can make a big change for all girls and women in the country. We can only keep speaking about it, to reaffirm that this is wrong in our own minds.
Yet we are suffering ourselves, and hearing more stories about girls and female students who are banned from secondary school is really heart-wrenching.
There was another middle-aged woman at this gathering, Farashta. She talked about her 13-year-old daughter. In 2023, her daughter finished grade six, and that marked the end of her education. She wasn’t able to study in grade seven, as secondary schools are banned for girls in Afghanistan.
Farashta said that because her daughter was so intelligent – a student with a first degree and complete grades in the class – to keep her learning, she enrolled her daughter in a madrassa – the only educational avenue that is legal for girls after grade six.
“My daughter was studying in this madrassa for one year,” Farashta told us. “And you know what they were teaching in madrassas?”
The subjects her daughter is interested in – like math, science, or technology – were not discussed. Instead, all the teaching involved religious and complex Arabic language. “She was suffering because of not going to school, but now she suffers more for studying in a madrassa,” Farashta said.
“During this time, I realized that my 13-year-old daughter hadn’t grown,” she recounted. When Farashta checked her daughter’s clothes, noticed that there was no change in her daughter’s size.
“She is at age when she must be growing every year. But after a year, I realized that she was getting older, but her body was not growing,” Farashta said.
Listening to this story was truly heartbreaking, especially knowing that the impact goes beyond just the education ban. Girls between the ages of 11 and 17 are at a crucial stage of development, both physically and mentally. The disruption of their education due to the ban on girls’ schooling has a detrimental impact, as mental health issues and trauma can severely affect their growth, cognitive development, and emotional well-being. Without access to education and a safe environment to process these challenges, their future prospects and overall development are at risk
On March 22, schools in Afghanistan traditionally reopen, marking the start of a new academic year for students. This year, March 22 marks yet another year of schools reopening without female students, amid the Taliban’s ban on girls’ secondary education.
The Taliban had originally promised to eventually resume secondary education for girls. However, on March 23, 2022, in a sudden and dramatic reversal, the Taliban reneged on their promise to reopen high schools for girls, a decision that sparked widespread global condemnation. Despite this, female students remain hopeful that this year, they will finally return to school and resume their education.
Meanwhile, boys’ education is not faring much better. When the Taliban announced a change in the school uniform for male students, making it resemble the uniform worn in madrassas rather than the usual school uniform, it signaled their approach to education. The Taliban have changed curriculums and all aspect of schooling to reflect their ideology and their beliefs about what education should look like.
Many activists and concerned individuals argue that it might be better for schools to remain closed, as they fear these institutions could become places for indoctrination, where the Taliban impose their beliefs and cultural values on young students, both male and female.
All children deserve a safe, healthy, and developed education and school environment to study and grow. The international community and Muslim countries must take tangible action to ensure this opportunity exists in Afghanistan. Female students who have been deprived of their education must be given the opportunity to access school and continue their learning.