Voices From Afghanistan: Women Speak Of The Struggle For Education

"I miss reading storybooks, studying in the classroom with friends, and talking about big dreams," says Noor from the ancient city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan. Noor, in her early twenties, was accepted into university but could not attend due to Taliban's ban on girls' education beyond sixth grade.

Now, Noor stays at home, passing her days in an endless cycle of idleness. "My eyes wander to the shelf where my school books collect dust," Noor shares. "It's a constant reminder of the education I crave."

The possibility of online studies is a luxury for her. "The cost of the internet is very high in Afghanistan," Noor says. "Most families cannot afford internet access." According to a 2022 Gallup survey, 25 per cent of men and 6 per cent of women reported having access to the internet in Afghanistan.

Noor is hit with a pang of nostalgia, when she turns the pages of her school notebook. A Persian poem on one page is about heroic women. Some lines in the poem read:

In war and peace, they’re always in the lead

Afghan women, with a spirit, indeed

From Zainab and Fatima to Malali Jan

Each one has a story, in the sands of time’s span

Education and knowledge, in their hearts did grow

With every book they read, a future they’d sow

This is the third consecutive year that girls have been barred from school beyond sixth grade, since the fall of the West-backed democratic regime back in August 2021. 

Despite promises to “uphold women's rights in line with Sharia law”, girls continue to be excluded from education, and women are banned from most jobs, including nearly all forms of research and teaching. While the Taliban have allowed women to continue attending various University courses, this exception will also fall away if no more girls graduate from high school.

Through phone calls and texts, many Afghan women shared their stories with Outlook.

Nazanin, also in her early twenties, shares Noor's plight. A law student when the Taliban took power, she was forced to abandon her studies. "I loved financial and criminal law books," she recalls.

"I feel like a prisoner in my own country," Nazanin says. “What’s unfortunate is that the first word in the Quran is Iqra (Read), which is what they are trying to keep us from.” 

The Taliban's actions have left her "demotivated, aimless, and forgotten." Nazanin says while the Taliban has taken some positive steps for the country, they are not “responsible caretakers of the future mothers and daughters of our nation.”

"Taliban leaders must realise they are answerable before Allah for imposing ignorance upon an entire generation of girls," she says.

Noor and Nazanin share a common fate with the reportedly 2.5 million Afghan girls denied education. Taking into account the number of girls not going to school before the Taliban came to power, the UN’s educational and cultural agency says 80 per cent of Afghan school-age girls are now being denied their right to an education.

The Taliban has barred education for girls arguing that it does not comply with its interpretation of Islam.

Freshta Ghani, the Managing Editor of Zan-Times, a women-led newsroom covering women's issues in Afghanistan, told Outlook, "The only role religion plays in restricting women's education is the role of justification."

"The Taliban have prohibited girls' education for ideological reasons and social control," Freshta explains. "When women are educated and actively participate socially, the Taliban's narrative weakens, and alternative, non-Taliban perspectives gain prominence."

Freshta, who has authored a book "My pen is the wing of a bird” along with other Afghan women writers, believes that Afghanistan is being held hostage by the Taliban's patriarchal rule and that it is up to Afghan women, who are witnessing this injustice firsthand, to fight for their rights.

She adds that women within Afghanistan contribute to Zan-Times by sharing their stories, images, and videos of their lives and surroundings.  

In the shadows of Afghanistan's restrictive regime, many women refuse to surrender their dreams and continue to study on their own or online, hoping that they will one day be allowed to study officially. While the country’s ruling regime has not recognised the digital avenue of higher studies, it doesn’t stop girls from studying.

Gulzari, who is in her thirties, is pursuing her PhD from Gujarat University virtually. Her research focuses on the works of Khaled Hosseini and Deborah Ellis and how these award-winning writers write about Afghan culture and the situation of women.

But it's not easy as the internet is very slow. However, Gulzari's day job at a corporate office serves as a lifeline – she uses the company's wifi to submit assignments. "Some jobs are still allowed for women," Gulzari says. Dozens of women work alongside her, holding onto their careers.

Gulzari critiques the Taliban's ban on girls' education. “It contradicts their own goal of a gender-segregated society,” she argues. “Without trained female professionals, how can women in need feel secure and comfortably seek essential services, given we are a conservative society?”

Following Gulzari's path, her sister Malalai, in her early twenties, is among those seeking online education from foreign universities. Malalai recently secured enrolment at a university in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, local online schools established by education activists in Afghanistan provide an alternative for younger girls by offering education up to 12th grade. According to a report by Zan Times, online school administrators and teachers continue to educate students, often without financial or moral support from international organisations or foreign governments.

Shahrzad, a 10th-grade student, attends an online school named Azadi. "My parents always say they will do whatever it takes to fund my education," she says. Shahrzad's mother works to cover her internet expenses.

Despite her relief at being able to continue her studies, Shahrzad is worried about continuing her education after graduation. "My biggest concern is that our certificates won't be recognised outside our online school," she says. "If that happens, I won't be able to get a scholarship or a job."

While women in Afghanistan are barred from many public spaces and jobs, they are allowed to study medical fields like nursing, dentistry, midwifery, internal medicine, pharmacy and more, under specific conditions and with complete hijab. 

In Afghanistan's culturally rich city of Herat, Amiri, who is in her early twenties, is part of a dwindling number of female healthcare professionals.

With a diploma in midwifery, Amiri is doing her internship, and provides crucial services from her home--including family planning counselling and prenatal care. Many of her female friends do other tasks like assisting women with childbirth at hospitals.

"Afghanistan desperately needs female doctors," Amiri says. "They're often the only ones women and children can turn to. Traditional families refuse to let female relatives consult male doctors, especially in rural areas.”

With secondary education banned, Amiri says, "Once our current generation of female doctors and nurses retires, we will no longer have female doctors.”

Amiri's voice trembles as she thinks of a future without female doctors. "I feel like crying," she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

Amiri wants the world to talk about girls' education, but she makes an exception. "It should be done within the scope of discussing how to treat women, not to incite distancing from religion.”

"They, especially the West, shouldn't mix education with Hijab," she says. “They don't understand our society and religion as much as we do."

"Hijab is our identity as Afghans; without it, we are not ourselves," she added.

For many women, the reasons for leaving Afghanistan are many and mounting. Nooria, 25, is one of them. A business graduate, Nooria left Afghanistan to continue her studies in Germany. She's pursuing a vocational training program.

But moving away from home comes at a cost. She misses her homeland and she's not sure if she'll ever return to settle in Afghanistan again.

She misses Kabul's streets, memories, and people. She misses the mountains that feel both grounding and endless, and the vibrant markets filled with colours, familiar smell, and sounds that are so distinct.

"I also miss home-cooked food," she says. "Kabuli pulao, Mantu, Aushak, Bulani... the list goes on."

Nooria longs for her parents, friends, and family gatherings. "The warmth, laughter, and traditions hold a special place in my heart," she explains. "Even small moments – sharing tea or chatting with neighbours – have weight when you're far away."

Still, Nooria appreciates her privilege – being able to study. "Many girls aren't as fortunate," she says.

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This is the second time that the Taliban have banned education for girls in Afghanistan. The first time was during their previous regime in the late 1990s. 

In 2019 and 2020, during peace talks in Qatar, the Taliban’s chief negotiators promised to uphold women’s rights, including the rights to education and work. Two days after taking power, Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, spoke at a press conference claiming that they would respect women’s rights in all fields and adhere to international human rights law as long as it does not violate Sharia law. However, the Taliban has not kept their promise thus far.

According to a report from the Institute for the Study of War, there is even some opposition to the ban within the Taliban ranks. In February, the Taliban’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Stanikzai called on the government to lift the ban on women’s education. 

"Learning should be open to all because education is obligatory for both men and women,” he said. “No country can progress without education.”

Experts believe the Taliban's older generation, represented by religious leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Acting Prime Minister Hasan Akhund, is ideologically opposed to sending girls to school. On the other hand, some leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar and allegedly a majority of the Haqqani network, support girls' education. Baradar, one of the movement's founders, has long favoured international diplomacy. 

So far, attempts by those who feel girls should be allowed to study have yielded no results. While many women believe the Taliban doesn't value girls' education and that schools will never reopen for them under the group's rule, some are still hopeful. 

In a recent announcement, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, Taliban's Minister of Higher Education, announced that plans to reopen girls' schools and universities are on hold. “Inquiries are suspended,” he said, “until further notice.”

(To protect their identities, women in this story have had their names changed.)