Learning under gender apartheid: How Afghan girls are defying the Taliban’seducation ban

The Dark Reality of Educational Bans

Over the past four years, Afghan girls have faced one of the darkest periods in educational
history and women’s rights.

Since the Taliban swept into power in August 2021, Afghanistan has witnessed one of the most
severe forms of gender apartheid in the modern world. With the Taliban’s return, they reinstated
a series of systematic restrictions designed to erase women and girls from public life including
restrictions on freedom of movement, employment, and dress code.
Among these harsh measures was the ban on girls’ education above grade six (secondary
education) – a policy that has left millions of Afghan girls silenced, excluded, and being denied
their basic human rights.
Schools that once buzzed with curiosity and dreams suddenly fell silent. The immediate
aftermath following the news was devastating. Houses filled with distraught cries of girls who
were no longer able to continue their dreams.
For many of us, the ban felt like the theft of our futures, our identities, and our sense of
possibility. Girls, like me, were left behind, stripped of our classrooms, access to teachers, and
hope.
It has now been four years and there is still no sign of change. Many of us feel trapped,
powerless, and forgotten. Many girls across the country are still in a hopeless situation,
voiceless and unable to access educational opportunities.

A Lifeline for Afghan Girls

I still remember the early weeks after the ban. I would sit alone with my books, flipping through
pages I feared I would never study again. It felt as though the world had moved on without us.

A Beacon of Hope — LEARN Afghan

Yet, amid this bleak landscape, organisations like LEARN Afghan responded and have been
transforming the lives of girls across Afghanistan by keeping the flame of learning alive and
helping them defy educational restrictions.
Founded by Pashtana Durrani, it responded directly to the Taliban’s gender-based educational
restrictions by creating alternative pathways for learning. Through underground networks,
community classrooms, and digital platforms, LEARN offers what the current system is
preventing – access to knowledge, connection, dignity, and hope. Its mission challenges an
oppressive structure that aims to keep girls uneducated and locked away from society.

I am among the girls who have gained immeasurably from joining LEARN’s programme. The
first time I logged into an online class, it felt like a spark of light breaking through years of
darkness. My teachers welcomed me with kindness, patience, and belief – qualities I
desperately needed at a time when everything around me felt uncertain.
If it was not for LEARN I would not have been able to continue pursuing my dreams. And I’m not
the only one. Many of my friends, aged between 14 to 18, shared how their lives have been
given purpose by being part of these online networks by providing them the chance to not just to
study but to thrive in a society that tries to deny us our rights.
The importance of such initiatives becomes even more evident when viewed through an
international lens. Global human rights law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, protects the right to education without
discrimination. The Taliban’s restrictions stand in direct violation of these frameworks. They
have created a system that has abandoned its duty to its citizens.
The journey ahead for Afghan girls remains difficult, but our determination is stronger than ever.
The international community must continue advocating for our rights, documenting the injustices
we face, and supporting local initiatives that keep education alive under oppression. Our stories
show that the pursuit of knowledge cannot be erased, even under the strictest bans. We will
continue to defy these bans and hope for a brighter future, where we are included in all aspects
of society.
When girls are supported, they rise, resist, and reclaim their futures.
From darkness, we are finding light.
From oppression, we are building strength.
And through these initiatives we are shaping a future that our governing powers have tried to
erase.

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Written by: Nadera H Edited by: Sarah Hussain

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