Kabul, BBC Afghan Service
BBCAmina did not forget the experience of her changing up. When she was told she couldn’t go to college like boys, she was only 12 years older.
In Afghanistan, the new school year officially started on Saturday, but for the fifth year in a row, girls over the age of 12 were prohibited from going to classes.
She claims that” all of my dreams were shattered,” and that her message is clingy and full of emotion.
Amina, who is now 15 years old, has always wanted to become a physician. She had a brain defect and underwent surgery as a young child. A lady doctor saved her life, and that image has persisted in her mind and has motivated her to pursue her studies.
Amina’s wish was immediately put on hold when the Taliban conquered control of Afghanistan in 2021.
” I was very upset when my father informed me that the schools were closed.” It was a pretty unpleasant feeling, she mutters softly. ” I wanted to pursue a career in medicine so that I may be a physician.”
More than one million women have been affected by the Taliban’s restrictions on training for young girls, according to Unicef, the UN’s children’s company.
Madrassas, or spiritual institutions that focus on Islamic lessons, are now the only option available to many women and girls for getting educated. However, those whose people can afford private education may still be able to study cultures, science, and math.
Some people view the madrassas as a way to give young women some of the training they may have received in traditional schools, but others claim they are no substitute and that there are concerns about brainwashing.
I meet Amina in the dimly lit basement of the previously established secret religious education facility for around 280 female students of all ages in Kabul’s Al-Hadith madrassa.
The floor has paper walls and an icy air that makes it cool. Our feet are now going cold after talking for about 10 hours.
Amina’s sibling, Hamid, founded Al-Hadith Madrassa a year ago after taking Amina’s punishment for her training.
My daughter’s dream of becoming a brain surgeon was shattered when women were denied knowledge, says Hamid, who is in his early 30s.
He continues,” She felt much better about her future because I had the opportunity to go back to school and learn childbirth and second aid.”
Women and girls are prohibited from secondary and higher learning in Afghanistan, the only other nation.
The Taliban government originally suggested the prohibition would be temporary, pending the fulfilment of certain conditions, such as an “Islamic” curriculum. However, there has been no progress towards reopening schools for older girls in the years since.
A report from the Afghanistan Centre for Human Rights suggested that madrassas are being used to advance the Taliban’s intellectual objectives in January 2025.
According to the report, “extremist articles” has been incorporated into their curriculum.
It claims that the Taliban’s books promote its political and military pursuits, forbid the stirring of men and women, and support the compulsion to wear the hijab.
The older women ‘ access to a quality education is” a comprehensive and targeted violation,” according to the Afghan Centre for Human Rights.
Around 5,000 registered madrassas were reportedly present before the Taliban’s profit, according to estimates. They emphasize the study of Arabic speech, Hadith, Hadith, and the Quranic.
However, some have expanded the scope of their training, including those in chemistry, physics, mathematics, geography, and language like Dari, Pashto, and English, since the regulations on girls ‘ knowledge have been lifted.
The Taliban outlawed clinical training for people in December of last year despite a few madrastries ‘ attempts to introduce childbirth and first aid.
Hamid stated that he was dedicated to providing extra school-age women with a curriculum that combines both religious and other scientific subjects.
He smiled and exclaimed,” Socializing with other girls once made my sister much happier,” expressing his pride in his daughter’s endurance.
In Kabul, we visit yet another independently run madrassa.
More than 1,800 women and women between the ages of five and forty are educated at the Shaikh Abdul Qadr Jilani madrassa. Instead of based on age, classes are organized by scholar capacity. Under strict guidance, we were able to attend.
It is freezing cool, just like Al-Hadath Madrassa. Some schools had broken windows and doors, and the three-story creating had no heat.
As a group of women wearing headscarves and black face veils sit cross-legged on the floor in a big space, two Quran courses and a sewing group are taking place at once.
A little electric heater in the director’s second-floor business, Mohammad Ibrahim Barakzai, serves as the only heat resource in the class.
Mr. Barakzai claims that scientific subjects are taught in addition to those in religion.
However, when I request proof of that, the team will do a little digging before bringing out a several sluggish math and science books.
In the meantime, the rooms are well-stocked with spiritual texts.
Formal and informal are the two parts of this madrassa.
Topics covered in the proper area include those in languages, history, technology, and Islamic studies. The unofficial area includes topics like sewing, Islamic law, and Hadith.
Importantly, graduates from the casual section outnumber those from the proper section by ten to one.
After studying a wide range of topics, including math, physics, chemistry, and landscape, Hadiya, who is now 20 centuries old, just graduated from the madrassa.
She is passionate about chemistry and physics. I adore knowledge. It’s all about problem and how these ideas relate to the earth around me,” she says.
As she claims there was insufficient desire for her favorite topics, Hadiya then teaches the Quran at the madrassa.
At Al-Hadith madrassa, Safia, who is also 20 years old, teaches the Pashto speech. She fervently thinks that ladies in religious institutions may foster what she characterized as their own personal growth.
She concentrates on Fiqh, the legal framework that is necessary for daily Muslim practices.
” Fiqh is not a part of the larger educational system.” Studying Fiqh is crucial for children’s advancement, she says as a Muslim person.
Understanding concepts like ghusl and purification, the contrasts in supplication between genders, and the prerequisites for worship are crucial.
She adds, but, that “mainstream schools and universities may be replaced” by madrassas.
” Our culture requires absolutely no end to our educational institutions, including traditional schools and universities.” She warns that the closing of these establishments would result in a progressive decline in knowledge in Afghanistan.
Tawqa, 13, is a quiet, restricted student who likewise attends the Shaikh Abdul Qadr Jilani madrassa. She attends lessons with her older sister, a member of a wealthy home.
She claims that theological subjects are her favorite. ” I enjoy learning about the dress a person should wear, how to treat her family well, how to treat her brother and father without being rude to them,” she said.
” I want to spread my devotion to people all over the world by becoming a religious preacher.”
Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on individual rights in Afghanistan, has raised serious concerns about the Taliban’s limiting “madrassa-style” educational system.
He has emphasized the need to restore education opportunities for women in higher education and women after the fifth grade.
Mr. Bennett warned that this lack of education, combined with higher unemployment and poverty,” may foster dramatic ideologies and increase the risk of domestic extremism, threatening regional and global stability.”
According to the Taliban Ministry of Education, these spiritual training facilities house about three million individuals in Afghanistan.
It has made a promise to resume women ‘ schools in some circumstances, but it has not yet made a promise.
Despite all the difficulties Amina has encountered, including the training restrictions and her health issues, she still has hope.
She firmly believes that the Taliban may eventually help universities and schools to reopen. And I’ll realize my desire to work as a soul doctor.