Asia Bulletin: Inside a girls’ school in Kabul
Tom Sasse, our South Asia bureau chief, on the bleak future facing the few Afghan girls still able to study
Down a dusty side street in Kabul, we arrived at a three-storey building with a small astro-turf-covered outdoor area. Inside, we found a nervous group of four girls: Farishta, Diwa, Asia, and Nadia. The girls, all between 16 and 17 years old, were dressed in traditional black robes, with Asia wearing a full burqa and the others in abayas and masks.
They were excited to return to school, but their education had been disrupted after the Taliban closed secondary schools for girls in 2021. The madrasa they attended, which opened two years ago, charged around 1,000 Afghanis per month in fees, making it unaffordable for many of their friends. Despite official bans on girls' secondary education, madrasas secretly teach religious subjects along with other subjects like maths, science, and English.
However, the girls expressed limited career prospects, with few options beyond teaching in Islamic schools, which they did not consider a viable future. The girls were frustrated that Afghan men had not fought harder for their rights, calling for the world to recognize their government and push for more opportunities, though they remained pessimistic about their prospects.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times - World News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
