As the Taliban regime continues to squeeze education opportunities, Afghanistan’s wome are braving dangers to continue learning from their homes using the internet.
A recent report said that online course providers have seen high demand from Afghanistan’s women particularly for courses in English language, science and business.
Already faced with the danger of being discovered which could lead to punishment, Afghan women also have to contend with low prevalence of internet in the country.
A 2022 survey had said that about 25% men and 6% women had access to the internet in the cities, while only 2% women could use it in villages.
FutureLearn, a United Kingdom based online platform, announced in 2022 that it would make its courses free for Afghan citizens as long as the Taliban continued its ban on female education.
Since then, the platform has seen 33,000 Afghan students sign up for courses, most of whom are women.
In the US, University of People said that over 21,000 women have applied for its courses and over 3,000 are already enrolled.
UoP said that it has been providng he students textbooks as they struggle with erratic internet connections to make sure they are not left behind.
It has been estimated that atleast one million Afghan women have been affected by the curbs on education.
The Taliban claim that the ban on education of women is a part of their interpretation of Islam and have often cited the curriculum and uniform as reasons.
