There is no Women’s Education Master’s Program in Kabul as this article originally described. Under Taliban rule, women and girls are barred from secondary and higher education in Afghanistan, so no such program currently operates in the capital. This guide corrects the record and describes the real situation.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have barred girls from school beyond the sixth grade and, in December 2022, banned women from universities. UNESCO estimates that about 2.4 million Afghan girls have been barred from secondary education, making Afghanistan the only country where girls and women are formally banned from secondary and higher education.
Afghan educators have responded where they can. The School of Leadership Afghanistan, an all-girls boarding school founded by Shabana Basij-Rasikh, evacuated its community from Kabul in August 2021 and relocated to Rwanda, where classes resumed within days. About 250 students, staff, and family members made the move.
Online and underground learning efforts continue inside Afghanistan, but they operate under severe restrictions and cannot replace formal schooling. The named testimonials and specific initiatives in the original article, including a Yalda story, Aliya’s Virtual Academy, and a University of Nebraska Omaha journalism partnership, could not be verified and have been removed.
Readers who want to support Afghan women’s education can look to established organizations working in the region. Related reading: International Women’s Day, cultural intelligence for global careers, and continuing education resources.
