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Online Education For Women and Girls in Afghanistan

We support two online schools for hundreds of women and girls, denied their right to an education.

"
I discovered a wealth of knowledge and skills that empowered me to pursue my dreams despite the limitations imposed by the oppressive regime.
"

Student - Online School

Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban has decimated the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Forbidden from going to secondary school or university, they are forced to stay home, out of sight. Without an education, opportunities are severely limited and they face a bleak future. 

Children on the Edge supports two covert online schools that provide education to over 800 women and girls in Afghanistan. A network of volunteer teachers from around the world offer daily lessons on a wide range of subjects, which are accessed online from the safety of students’ homes. The schools aim to keep the girls’ hope alive and offer a solution to building peace in the country.

When the Taliban took control in 2021,  activist and former teacher from Afghanistan, Angela Ghayour was horrified to witness the devastating attack on women’s rights. She received hundreds of requests for help from previous teaching colleagues and students living in her home town of Herat. She decided she had to do something.

Recruiting hundreds of volunteer teachers from around the globe, she set up Herat Online School to ensure that girls in Afghanistan could still access their right to an education. Children on the Edge has been supporting her organisation since 2022, now called ‘Afghanistan Education Action’.

Afghanistan Education Action provides quality education for women and girls in Afghanistan, while championing human rights. The Herat Online School and a new ‘International School’ provide education to students cut off from learning. 70% of them are women and girls, who attend classes delivered by hundreds of volunteer teachers, on a wide range of subjects, from the safety of their homes.

IMPACT STATS

820

Students accessing daily lessons

84

Different subjects covered

400

Volunteer teachers

Meet Aqdas

In the early days of the Taliban takeover, Aqdas was just 14, and felt like her entire future had been taken away in just one night. A year later, a light switched on when she began learning with Herat Online School. She says, “The school pierced through the darkness and reminded me of my forgotten potential. Every time that I had a class, I could feel my freedom, desires, and shared dreams that were stolen from me by the current regime.“

Aqdas is now in the USA studying after the school mentored her through a successful application to an Afghan Youth scholarship programme.

Your donation can bring joy to girls like Adqas through by learning online.
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"
Herat Online School brightens our darkest days. It brings hope, knowledge and a deep and wonderful message; ‘the pen instead of the gun'!
"

Student - Online School

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Light in the Dark: Herat Online School brings hope for women and girls in Afghanistan

The Herat Online School offers a vital lifeline to women and girls in Afghanistan who are cut off from education. The online school brings hope and a chance to connect with the outside world, as they are forced to stay home, out of sight.

Our Partnership with Afghanistan Education Action

Afghanistan remains the only country where girls are banned from secondary school. Children on the Edge are supporting an organisation that offers hope to women and girls of Afghanistan, amidst the darkness.

Meet Aqdas

Aqdas is 17 years old and witnessed her dreams vanish overnight when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021. Read her story and how our partner organisation helped her to apply for a scholarship in the USA.

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