Afghanistan | Online courses for female students under the noses of the Taliban

An Afghan woman has set up an underground education program for women who have been excluded from universities since December.

Lea Carrier

The Press

In the space of a few days, more than 500 teachers around the world responded to Basira Taheri’s call.

The activist enlisted the help of professors from all disciplines to launch an online course program for Afghan female students.

The invitation was shared on social media shortly after Taliban authorities announced that universities would be closed to women in late December.

Less than a month later, the first classes began. More than 2,000 female students have already registered for the program. They study law, political science, economics.

“It’s their last chance,” argues Basira Taheri, who has been campaigning for the right to education for young Afghan women for more than 10 years.

Since the Taliban’s flash takeover in 2021, Afghanistan has turned into a zoo, image Basira Taheri. And women, stripped of all their rights, are like caged animals.

According to M^me Taheri, he does not go a day without “murders, arrests, torture, beatings, forced marriages, suicides and thousands of other crimes against women”.

“Afghanistan has become hell for women,” she thunders.

But there is light in the darkness.

Almost a year ago, Basira Taheri was wanted by the Taliban and was hiding in Kabul. Today, she is a refugee in Italy and fights from a distance for the education of Afghan girls and women.

“I keep fighting so they don’t think we’ve lost. »

“Suddenly everything fell apart”

Before the return of the Taliban, Basira Taheri ran a school for girls in Herat, the country’s third largest city, in addition to being involved in several organizations for the defense of women’s rights.

In recent years, the tide had turned in Afghanistan, she says. The education of young Afghan women was increasingly accepted, and even encouraged.

“The government had a specific budget to create educational opportunities for women,” says Ms.^me Taheri.

The call is translated from Persian to French thanks to the help of Somaya Ahmady, a former student of M^me Taheri, who is now pursuing higher education in Bangladesh. “I am the first woman in my family to go to school,” she says proudly. After graduation, the student hoped to start her own organization and advocate for gender equality in Afghanistan.

After the fall of Kabul, the activist opposed the Taliban regime, which promised to be more flexible than 20 years ago. She never believed it. “Every day, we received news about the murder of activists,” says Ms.^me Taheri, who continued to take to the streets, risking her life.

In September 2021, her name ended up on a list of activists wanted by the Taliban. Reluctantly, she took refuge in the capital.

In Kabul, Basira Taheri lived in a house rented in the name of a relative for six long months, during which she only went out twice. No one knew she was hiding there, not even her mother.

Even in hiding, the activist continued to defend the education of girls, deprived of secondary education.

Three teachers have transformed their house into a classroom. M^me Taheri, who had to keep a low profile, coordinated the lessons.

“Each class had about 20 students. The girls learned math, physics, chemistry and English. We were preparing them for college,” the 33-year-old explains.

The more the months passed, the more the noose closed on her. By this point, most activists had deserted the country. With the help of an organization, Basira Taheri fled to Pakistan, where she continued her activism for six months.

“There were many Afghan refugee families. With my friends, we taught the children,” she says.

restore hope

In July, Basira Taheri immigrated to Italy on a refugee visa.

In recent months, the Taliban have imposed restrictions on Afghan female students. They were separated from their male classmates and required to wear the hijab in class.

M^me Taheri was in contact with her female students in Afghanistan when the Taliban banned women from college. “One of them ended her life,” denounces the activist.

“I wondered what I could do to support them. I posted on social media that I wanted to offer online education to Afghan women,” she says.

The “Wisdom House” program was born less than a month later. More than 2,000 students have already registered, mostly university students, but also secondary school students.

“Every day we have meetings with the teachers. Some of them are ready to mentor them or offer them an internship,” says Ms.^me Taheri.

But the challenges are many. Internet access, expensive in Afghanistan, is an obstacle for many students. Basira Taheri hopes to find a solution.

Despite the horror, all is not yet lost, she says.

“I talk to students on the phone day and night. I suggest different ways for them to fight. I motivate them not to lose hope. »

“We are going to become a country without educated women”

“If there are no more midwives in our country, what will our wives, daughters and pregnant mothers do? », Asserts Malala*.

At the other end of the line, the midwifery student keeps a long silence. Banished from her university, she fears for her future, but also that of her country.

In Afghanistan, several professions in the education and health sectors are predominantly occupied by women. Midwifery, for example, is reserved for women, says Malala.

Without succession, the profession is in danger. “We are going to become a country without educated women,” she thunders, appalled.

Last fall, the 19-year-old began her studies at a private university in Herat. Her class had 45 students.

“It was my neighbor who convinced me to register. She said that midwifery would be a good choice for our future and that we would find a job,” says Malala.

At the end of December, the student went to the university to take an exam. When he arrived, his teacher told him to leave the premises on the order of the Taliban.

“My teacher told us that she couldn’t do anything for us and that we had to leave,” recalls the student.

That morning, Malala stood for at least an hour standing outside the gates of her university. She was hoping for a mistake, a misunderstanding.

“I cried all day. I thought, “Why? What have we done ?” If I had the choice to be a girl or a boy, I would choose to be a boy. Why can boys study and not girls? “, she is indignant.

“Disastrous” consequences

The Taliban authorities have justified the prohibition of access to universities for women by the fact that they “did not respect” the dress codes.

According to the United Nations, the draconian measure will have “disastrous” consequences, not only for women, but also for the whole country.

“Without educated women, there will be fewer professionals to serve the people and move Afghanistan towards prosperity,” the international organization decried in a public statement.

As the Taliban prohibits male doctors from treating women and young girls, they “will not receive adequate medical care”. Without female teachers, “children’s education will suffer”.

“The intergenerational impacts of such a restriction will be profound and disastrous for Afghanistan,” the UN warned.

The economic situation is already “alarming” since the work restrictions imposed on women by the Taliban, argues Afghan activist Basira Taheri.

“By prohibiting the education of girls, the Taliban group has caused a disaster”, she insists.

Since being barred from university, Malala has been spending her days at home. “I watch TV, I do household chores. That’s what women do in Afghanistan,” she says.

He has nothing left, except hope, perhaps. “It’s the only thing we can do. Hope that the universities will open their doors to us again. »

*Fictional first name, to protect the identity of the student