After Year of No School, Uncertain Future for Afghan Girls

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After Year of No School, Uncertain Future for Afghan Girls

For most teenage girls in Afghanistan, it has been a year since they were barred from going to school. But some are trying to continue their education even with the Taliban now ruling the country.

At a house in Kabul, a group of young girls recently gathered for classes in an unofficial school set up by Sodaba Nazhand. She and her sister teach English, science and math to girls who should be in high school.

"When the Taliban wanted to take away the rights of education and the rights of work from women, I wanted to stand against their decision by teaching¹ these girls," Nazhand told The Associated Press.

Hers is one of several secret schools in operation since the Taliban took over the country and restricted² education for girls. The government only permits girls to attend school through the sixth grade. They are barred from attending high school. Although the Taliban says women can attend university, it is not likely that they will do so if they cannot complete high school.

"There is no way to fill this gap³, and this situation is very sad and concerning," Nazhand said.

Taliban takeover

Nearly the whole population of Afghanistan was thrown into poverty after the Taliban takeover in August of 2021. Millions of Afghans could not feed their families when the world cut off support to the country.

The group Save the Children found that more than 45 percent of girls are not going to school in Afghanistan, compared to 20 percent of boys. It also found that 26 percent of girls are showing signs of depression, compared with 16 percent of boys.

The international community is demanding that the Taliban open schools to all Afghan girls. The United States and the European Union have created plans to pay Afghanistan's teachers directly to keep the schools open without putting money in the Taliban's hands.

But Taliban leaders are still arguing among themselves about whether to educate girls. Some in the group support returning girls to school because they see no religious objection⁴ to it or because they want to improve ties with the world. Others strongly oppose it, especially rural⁵ tribal⁶ leaders.

When the Taliban first ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, the group established much stronger restrictions⁷ on women. They banned schools for all girls and barred women from work. If they went outside, women had to wear burkas, clothing that covers them fully⁸, from head to feet.

The Taliban promised Afghans when they seized control again last year that they would not return to the restrictions of the past. The officials said they would permit teen girls back into school in the future. But, they said, first the government needed to set up a process to separate boys and girls in an "Islamic framework⁹."

In March, just before the new school year was to begin, the Taliban announced that everyone would be back to school. But then, on March 23, the day school was to reopen, the group stopped teenage girls from going to school. Apparently¹⁰, the Taliban's supreme¹¹ leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, changed the policy to please more conservative¹² local leaders.

Shekiba Qaderi, a 16-year-old, remembered going to school that day, ready to start the 10th grade. She and her friends were excited until a teacher told them to go home. The girls all began to cry, she said. "That was the worst moment in our lives."

Since then, she has been trying to study at home by reading books. And she is learning¹³ English through movies and YouTube videos. Her older sister is at a private university studying law. But her father Mohammad Shah Qaderi said, "She won't have a job. The Taliban won't [permit] her to work."

Qaderi said he has always wanted his children to get a higher education. As that may be impossible now, he is thinking of leaving Afghanistan for the first time after many years of war.

"I can't see them growing in front of my eyes with no education; it is just not acceptable¹⁴ to me," he said.

Secret schools

A month after the Taliban takeover, Nazhand started teaching street children to read in a park in her neighborhood. Women who could not read or write joined them, she said.

Sometime later, a supporter rented a house in which Nazhand could hold the classes. Once she was operating inside, Nazhand included teen girls who were no longer permitted to go to public school.

Now there are about 250 students, including 50 or 60 schoolgirls studying above the sixth grade level.

"I am not only teaching them school subjects, but also trying to teach them how to fight and stand for their rights," Nazhand said. "These are the same Taliban, but we shouldn't be the same women of those years. We must struggle by writing, by raising our voice, by any way possible."

Nazhand's school, and others like it, are illegal under the Taliban's current restrictions. But so far, her school remains¹⁵ open.

For students, the underground schools are a lifeline.

"It is so hard when you can't go to school," said student Dunya Arbabzada. "Whenever I pass by my school and see the closed door ... it's so upsetting for me."

Words in This Story

grade - n. a level of study that is completed by a student in one year

gap - n. the missing¹⁶ part

depression - n. a serious medical condition in which a person feel really sad

framework - n. the basic structure of something

rent - v. to pay money in order to use something

1 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

2 restricted   

adj.有限的；受约束的

参考例句：

• Speed is restricted to 30 mph in towns. 在城里车速不得超过每小时30英里。
• a restricted range of foods 有限的食物种类

3 gap   

n.缺口；间隔；差距；不足，缺陷

参考例句：

• We must see that there is no gap in our defence.我们必须确保我们的防御没有漏洞。
• There is a gap of five miles between towns.镇与镇之间相隔五英里。

4 objection   

n.厌恶，异议，反对；反对的理由

参考例句：

• None of them raised any objection.他们谁也没提出反对意见。
• Please present your objection to the plan.请提出反对这个计划的理由。

5 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

6 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 framework   

n.参照标准；准则；观点；框架，结构

参考例句：

• It's a bridge of steel framework.那是座钢铁结构的桥梁。
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework.物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

10 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 conservative   

adj.保守的，守旧的；n.保守的人，保守派

参考例句：

• He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
• The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。

13 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

14 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。