Home – Women’s eNews”If they close our school, we will create our own.” – Underground Schools in Afghanistan​Women’s eNews

They are following in the footsteps of an earlier generation of teachers who created similar secret schools when the Taliban first came to power in 1996.  

(This article was originally published in Zan Times on August, 27, 2024)

Farahnaz*, a principal who had devoted two decades of her life to education, was forced to leave her school in September 2021. After the Taliban regained power, she had no choice but to stay home with her husband and seven children in one of the northeastern provinces of Afghanistan. Farahnaz was determined to restart the education of girls deprived of the right to go to school so she established a secret home classroom. Her first students were 15 girls from her neighbourhood, who had previously been in grades 7 to 12. As word of her secret class spread, another group of females began requesting that she start a new class, this time for housewives who wanted to learn how to read and write.

“I have always been an advocate of perseverance and hard work and never believed in obstacles and difficulties,” says Farahnaz to Zan Times. “By forming this class, not only I, but also the teenage girls and even the middle-aged women who came for literacy classes were happy that we had found a way.”

Farahnaz is one of thousands of teachers who reacted to the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education by turning their homes into underground schools. They are following in the footsteps of an earlier generation of teachers who created similar secret schools when the Taliban first came to power in 1996. At that time, secret schools were established in homes and even within some government schools. With the Taliban’s return to power in the summer of 2021, underground schools have once again become one of the most common ways for girls to continue their education beyond the sixth grade. In addition to hidden schools, many girls have turned to online schools though technology and the internet are not accessible to many girls in Afghanistan’s rural areas. It can also be expensive for struggling families. Therefore, underground schools are essential in many areas. 

Within five months of starting her first class in her secret school, Farahnaz’s student population had grown so much that she had to teach them in two shifts, morning and afternoon. Then, as more and more students wanted to learn, it was too much for Farahnaz to handle, so she asked her advanced students to help teach the lower grades.

Barna* is one of Farahnaz’s students in the 12th grade of the secret school. Before government schools were closed to girls her age, she had been a top student and aspired to become a doctor. She became depressed at being unable to learn. Then she learned about Farahnaz’s underground school from a classmate. Joining her hidden school gave her purpose and hope. Within a few months, and with Farahnaz’s encouragement, she started an underground class at her own home.

Initially, Barna had seven students in her class: two girls from the 12th grade and five girls from the 11th grade. “The fact that I couldn’t continue my studies was a big disappointment for me; it was a really bad feeling,” she explains to Zan Times. “This home school is because I don’t want to give up.” Still, Barna admits that running an underground school is a struggle, though one that she knows is necessary: “We fight, and if they close our school, we will create our own school.”

Now, Farahnaz has more than 100 students in her secret school while Barna has more than 50. Students study three hours a day, with top 12th-grade students also teaching to the lower grades. In addition, top students in the higher grades also teach literacy to middle-aged women. Farahnaz says her students asked her to provide them with graduation certificates. Since she cannot issue official ones, she asked for help from a supporter who lives outside of Afghanistan and who helps underground school teachers like her and Barna. This person, who wishes to remain anonymous, has included Farahnaz and Barna’s schools under the umbrella of their informal underground school network and has promised to not only provide graduation certificates but also pay small salaries to the teachers. “After our school was supported by this benefactor, the students became very happy. The students are now more motivated to study to get a certificate,” says Farahnaz. “This person runs their underground schools online and through the homes of teachers and has covered more than 5,000 girls.”

Farahnaz and Barna say that local people not only support their work but actively support their efforts. The daily expenses of running such secret schools, such as attendance sheets, markers, boards, rugs, and water, are covered by the students’ families. 

However, running an underground school is not without risks. In the two-plus years that these two teachers have been operating their secret schools, the Taliban have inspected their homes under various pretexts and have tried to stop their activities. Farahnaz recalls one such encounter that occurred less than seven months after she’d started her secret school: “At that time, besides teaching secondary and high school courses, we were also teaching elementary courses and operating under the name of a training centre. It was one o’clock in the afternoon, and our second shift class was in progress when a student came inside, saying that a police car with several Taliban members inside was parked near the door. I quietly went to the door and looked to see if it was true. I threw my phone over the wall into the neighbour’s yard, took the phone of one of the students who was helping me teach the elementary classes, and answered the knock on the door. The Taliban entered the yard and asked me to hand over my phone. I gave them the phone that was in my hand. The Taliban left. After two days, they handed the phone over to the local mosque’s mullah and told my husband that they had received a false report about our house and school. The Taliban thought I was gathering teenage girls to create films and send them to foreign NGOs.” Due to security concerns, Farahnaz moved her underground school to another location.

Students who attend underground classes explain that they cannot carry textbooks for courses above the sixth grade in case the Taliban find them during a search. That protocol was imposed after the Taliban searched one of Farahnaz’s students and arrested her after finding such textbooks on her. According to Farahnaz and a colleague, this student was released with the mediation of local elders. Since then, Taliban fighters have searched girls in the neighbourhood in which Farahnaz lives. 

“We can’t bring our textbooks and notebooks with us on the way to school,” explains Arzu*, a grade 9 student in Farahnaz’s underground school. “The Taliban members have searched our classmates’ bags several times on the pretext of finding school books.” To lessen the threat of being caught, Arzu explains that “only students who live close to the school bring books with them, and we all use them together.”

The Taliban are not the only obstacle to the operation of these underground schools. In the spring of 2024, Barna’s home and class were damaged when continuous and relentless rains caused floods in her northern provinces. “It was nine o’clock at night when it started to rain, and suddenly, the flood entered the yard, and we were completely caught off guard,” she recounts to Zan Times. “We fled the yard, but there was no escape because the alley and street were also flooded. With great difficulty, we managed to save ourselves and go to a relative’s house. My students were also facing the same problem, and almost all of their homes were flooded.” 

A few weeks later, Barna had her class up and running again. She was encouraged by the support of the local people: “Fortunately, the local people cooperate with us. Whenever the Taliban come, or we get news that the Taliban are coming, the neighbors inform us. Then we tidy up the house and school so that it doesn’t look like there was a school here.”

Even with those precautions, Barna admits that her heart beats fast and she trembles every time the Taliban come to her door. Yet, she has no intention of stopping: “Honestly, my fear is that the girls will remain illiterate. I fear that our girls will be left without a future. I’m not afraid of teaching and learning, and no matter what, I’ll resist the Taliban and continue my work.”

“My message to girls like me who have been prevented from going to school is not to lose hope. If they have the means, they should continue their studies online,as there are lessons being taught on social media now and, with minimal resources, we can learn those lessons,” says Barna, who hopes for the end of these dark days and the end of the Taliban. “In short, don’t despair and continue your studies by any means possible. These days will pass. We will return to our school again. If there is no school, we will create our own.”

About the Author: Alma Begum* (*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees. Alma Begum is pen name of a woman freelance writer in Afghanistan). This article was originally published on August 27, 2024 in Zan Times, a women-led, investigative newsroom that covers human rights violations in Afghanistan with a focus on women, the LGBTQ community, and environmental issues.