Canadian group on front line of efforts to ensure Afghan girls, women get an education

After taking the arrival and greeting every bright voice chiming from behind the colorful circles on her screen, the teacher started to the lesson. He lectured as he scrolled through slides, moving through rainbow-colored maps, photos of mountains and geographic facts about Asia.

It may seem like a typical virtual lesson — a format now familiar to most Canadians after the prevalence of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic — but this Grade 7 geography class is actually a secret: All-girl students in Afghanistan are taking the class remotely. from their homes thanks to the work of Canadian non-governmental organizations.

Since taking back control of the country in 2021, the Taliban have access to my school is blocked for girls and women.

A growing list of restrictions elementary school by post high schoolby command block access beyond Grade 6 and the ban on women in the workplace – including principals and teachers – also disrupts education for girls from Grade 1 onwards.

Although some Afghan women and girls have fled the country, the students who remain are on the minds of many people around the world, including Canadians who support their efforts to continue their education.

“This is a risky job and we are very careful about it…. [My students] face danger because they are not allowed,” said A., an Afghan instructor teaching virtual geography classes from outside the country. CBC News is not disclosing his full name, or that of his students, to protect their safety.

“I love my people,” said the teacher. “That’s why I am [joined] this program: to teach people. To do something for them.”

The value of education is not lost on his students, which shows that they still dream of careers in fields such as medicine, engineering, computer science and aviation.

“We study for the future, and we look forward to the situation [in Afghanistan] change and we will be able to work for this country,” said M., one of the 7th grade students. “If the girls have learned, in the future the society will learn.”

Without schools for girls, “we will have no power in the future,” said B., a classmate. “We want to take this risk to learn and build Afghanistan, because this country needs us.”

Parents make ‘sacrifices’ for girls’ education

After seeing the strides young women have made since the last Taliban took over the government 20 years ago, many Afghans are dedicated to making sure girls continue their education, said Lauryn Oates, executive director of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WAfghan), an NGO. with chapters. in various provinces.

“Families know that this is a way out of poverty, that you really need an education to make yourself in the world,” said Oates of Vancouver.

“We are always very surprised to hear the stories of women, mothers, fathers who sacrifice so that girls can go to school in these conditions.”

For the past 20 years, CW4WAfghan has tapped Afghanistan’s rapidly established internet infrastructure, using virtual technology to train Afghan teachers and share educational resources.

Most recently, the staff developed a sister site of online courses – similar to those offered by many international universities and colleges – for older students who wish to improve their higher education qualifications.

After the fall of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, to the Taliban in August 2021, the group quickly moved on to a new endeavor: continuing to educate girls through online classes. Elementary and middle school students now come in for one-on-one lessons with educators, complete and submit assignments and write online exams to move on to the next class. The schedule follows the regular school year.

“The longer someone is out of school, the less likely they will return to school and get all the benefits of completing their education,” said Oates, adding that the goal “is just for everyone to learn, no matter what. “The situation in the country. And we’re reaching Afghans in Afghanistan, but also displaced Afghans.”

Over time, more online school offerings and alternative learning initiatives — many started by Afghans in the diaspora — are springing up in the otherwise busy place. Amidst the crisis for female students, Oates said, she hopes for more positive developments.

“This may spur innovation in access to education for everyone: for girls and women and the entire Afghan population, for people with disabilities and other challenges,” Oates said.

Canadian schools are encouraged to break barriers

CW4WAfghan has also made efforts to quickly match Afghan post-secondary students with Canadian schools – a path that has been pushed further since the Taliban extended restrictions on the sector by the end of 2022, starting with the ban on women studying at the university level in December.

“We are not asking for a university [start] new programs or starting new scholarships, but to look at the resources that exist and ask, ‘What can we do in response to this crisis?’ Oates said.

“Maybe we won’t see the changes we want to see in Afghanistan… in our lifetime, but the work we do now will make a big difference in the future. It’s like planting a seed for a tree to grow.”

Carolyn Watters, professor emeritus and former provost at Dalhousie University in Halifax, is one Canadian academic moved to action. For the past several months, the retired computer science professor, now based in Victoria, has helped develop a toolkit for Canadian institutions to support Afghan women pursuing or pursuing post-secondary studies.

Her suggestions range from adapting current programs to thinking differently about existing offerings. Schools may have policies that accept transfer students under unusual or extreme circumstances, for example, or scholarships for needy international students.

They may have streamed online courses to students located abroad. That move could include Afghan women — if the students knew about it, Watters said.

Watters also supports the removal of obstacles for Afghan women who are currently applying to Canadian institutions, whether through exempted application fees, the creation of a bursary for living expenses (which supports more than an academic scholarship), increasing access to English classes if necessary and a new look. transfer course credits or partial degrees from Afghanistan to the Canadian context.

“If universities and colleges have the capacity and [Afghan] women have needs, how to make that connection? We have to make things better,” Watters said.

Spreading these opportunities through partnerships – such as with NGOs like CW4WAfghan – is essential to ensure efficient uptake, he said.

“We have to move forward because two years from now, we’re going to lose a lot of people who want to learn.”

‘Life is meaningless without freedom’

Grade 12 student Razia Arifi, a member of Afghanistan’s Hazara ethnic and religious minority, fled the country with her siblings in 2021. Adjusting to a new language and life in Toronto was difficult after the trauma of leaving her parents and siblings behind, she said.

However, Arifi said he knew his parents had a future and well-being. Active teenagers are most likely to go to the gym (“which is forbidden and prohibited for girls” in Afghanistan, they say), talk about sports or play outside.

“He prefers that I go anywhere … it’s better to be somewhere else [where] I can be happy and still continue my education,” said the 18-year-old, adding that physics and astronomy were his favorite subjects at school.

“Life has no meaning without freedom,” said Arifi. “When I think about it [Afghan girls back at home], I think that now I’m here and I have a great opportunity, I have to try to work hard. I have to try something, so that one day when I come back, I can help some people.”