Afghanistan’s Education Crisis Affects Boys Too
As the Taliban cripples Afghanistan’s education system, Sameer and his NGO fight to keep classrooms open—for both boys and girls
Sameer* tries not to think about the long-term damage to education in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Instead, he pushes concerns aside and provides education to Afghan children through his work with an NGO. “We cannot rely on hope. I believe it is better to focus on doing something practical,” he says.
A Human Rights Watch report published in 2023 highlighted the “irreversible damage” to the education system since the Taliban seized power, emphasizing the impact on both genders and warning that the negative impact on boys’ education had gone largely unreported.
Female teachers are now prohibited from teaching boys, leaving many with unqualified replacements, the report said, while an increase in corporal punishment combined with the pressure of the economic situation in the country meant many boys were leaving education altogether. “Many teachers have fled, removing highly qualified individuals from the sector,” Sameer says, adding that students at a higher level were suffering a lack of motivation as a result of the decline in standards.
“Until the Taliban took over, education in this country was developing,” Sameer says, pointing to opportunities for qualified graduates to pursue jobs in the public and private sectors. “Now people are demotivated. Why study to get a master’s degree or pursue a top job? This is the emotional damage being caused to our society.”
The NGO he works for provides educational support to over 40,000 students in provinces across the country, including women and girls in rural provinces, where it is harder to access alternative forms of education. In some cases, they have managed to make arrangements with local authorities. “It depends on the province. We have to negotiate with them and make the course appear more religious, or they will just shut it down,” Sameer says.
Last year, they ran a basic literacy course across multiple provinces, teaching around 4,200 women to read and write. The project aimed to reach 5,000 women, but in two provinces, it was shut down, forcing 800 female students to suspend their studies. “If the authorities choose not to allow it, they will just send you a WhatsApp message ordering you to stop,” Sameer says, adding that they have no choice but to comply in these cases.
There is huge demand for the courses but resources are scarce, with a shortage of qualified teachers and materials to learn. “These courses are very desired by the community—both men and women, but unfortunately, it is difficult to reach everyone,” he adds.
When he heard about the Innovation Hub grant from Ideas Beyond Borders, Sameer saw an opportunity to fill a gap. He applied and secured funding to help run a six-month course for 18 7th-grade girls, allowing them to stay up to date with their studies for another year. “If schools re-open, they will be ready for the next grade, and they will not have wasted the last year,” he says, emphasizing his belief in the value of educating the whole society. “We are not the kind of people that believe education isn’t important for women; we believe it is essential; they are half of the community.”
The value of education was instilled in him as a young child when his father was the principal of their village school. He remembers how some people refused to educate their children back then, and the frustration his father felt for the whole community. “We need to remove these negative perceptions of education and remove illiteracy from our society,” Sameer says. “We cannot develop unless there is a basic level of knowledge across the population to support those at higher levels striving for improvement,” he says.
*IBB uses pseudonyms to protect our partners in Afghanistan
This article was written by Olivia Cuthbert