With the Taliban takeover, how will education change? In general, for girls and women, and for STEM?
Find out how girls have to fight for education in Afghanistan, and the concern about the future of education following the Taliban takeover. This video is important for teachers and secondary students to appreciate something as fundamental as education and acknowledge that although it’s a global right for all, not all are allowed to access it.
Video Length: 28:49 mins
But education has been an ongoing struggle for Afghanistan over the past four decades. In the regional areas of the country, schools lack basic resources from blackboards to books to trained teachers. There are also social and cultural barriers to learning, particularly for girls.
And yet, Afghan children understand the opportunities that education opens up – and they’re fighting to change their own futures, as well as the futures of their families and their country.
The new government announced last week that secondary education classes will resume for boys, omitting any mention for girls in grades seven to 12.
We spoke to Farkhondeh Akbari, originally from Daikundi province in central Afghanistan, and Pashtana Durrani, from Kandahar province in the country’s south, about the past, present and future of education in Afghanistan.
Speakers:
Farkhondeh Akbari was born in Daikundi, Afghanistan, and migrated with her family to Australia when she was 12 years old. She has visited friends and relatives in Afghanistan throughout her life, most recently in 2019. Today she lives in Canberra, where she’s completing a PhD in diplomacy and peace settlements at the ANU.
Pashtana Durrani is a teacher and the founder and executive director of LEARN, an Afghan not-for-profit whose main focus is providing quality education to all children, especially girls. Pashtana has remained in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power.
Ian Connellan is editor-in-chief of the Royal Institution of Australia.
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