Last week, people all over the world celebrated World Education Day, but unfortunately, I must write that Afghanistan is the only country in the world where women and girls are denied the right to education.

As a girl who was denied the right to education under the Taliban’s first rule, I understand the enthusiasm of Afghan girls in education. As a child, I used to walk four hours from home to school and back every day to learn new things.

At that time, boys could go to schools but the girls weren’t allowed to get an education and had to stay home.

However, I was always very interested in school and learning. My parents realized my passion and they supported my desire to go to school, even though they knew that people in the village would disapprove. And as a result, of course, education changed my life.

This passion exists among all Afghan girls. Because we believe that we cannot live a peaceful life without education.

Thousands of women worked in all sectors of society in politics, society, sports, cultural programs, as doctors in hospitals and teachers in schools and universities.

In the past 20 years, there have been many opportunities to educate women and girls in Afghanistan but getting an education for themselves has never been easy. They faced many challenges, but in every house, there were female students in universities and schools.

In the meantime, many women and girls in Afghanistan lost their lives in schools, universities, and educational centers for the cause of science and knowledge. In a massive attack that took place in 2021 in a girls’ school in the west of Kabul, more than 80 female students from Hazara people were killed. Neither myself or anyone else can understand the pain and suffering that the parents of those girls are going through.

We cannot forget the schoolgirls who were splashed with acid in Kandahar, when unknown men sprinkled acid on the faces of 15 schoolgirls in November 2008.

We cannot forget that a few months ago, a deadly attack took place at the Kaaj educational center in Kabul, where more than 50 teenage girls were killed. These girls lost their lives for education.

For nearly two years now, millions of teenage girls have been kept out of school. They are counting down the days until they can return to their classes. We have reached a point where even if the Taliban allow these girls to return to school, there is no future for them after they graduate because tens of thousands of women haven’t been allowed to return to work after the fall of the former government.

Last year was a difficult year for the people of Afghanistan, especially the women of the country, and unfortunately, the situation continues to deteriorate with no hope for a better future.

In the last 18 months since the Taliban takeover, most Afghan women have been placed under house arrest. Many of the brave Afghan women have taken to the streets continuously over the past 18 months, chanting “bread, work, freedom and education” against the Taliban’s restrictive policies.

Domestic violence and violence against women are now on the rise, and women in the country are no longer the free and hopeful women of two years ago.

During this time many women have begun to stay at home. Thousands of female teachers lost their jobs in Afghanistan. Hundreds of female employees, police, journalists, judges, civil activists and others have been forced to flee Afghanistan or risk spending their lives hiding in their homes for fear of being flogged by the Taliban.

The suffering of Afghan women in the traditional and highly anti-feminist structure of Afghanistan goes beyond this. We have been held captive to Afghanistan’s tradition, religion, patriarchal and anti-feminist society for many years, with many of us living in poverty and deprivation. Over the past two decades, women in various political and social arenas have sought to make their mark and speak for all women by being active in political and public life. We have tried to change the traditional, patriarchal laws, structures and patterns, but with the rise and ultimate victory of the Taliban, our aspirations have been dashed.

From my perspective, the most important issue for the people of Afghanistan is controlling hunger and providing education. Literacy rates must rise among the Afghan people. They need more support in education than ever before.

In education, even a one-day delay is irreparable. Afghan girls have been deprived of education for nearly two years now. The teenage girl crying behind the TV screen saying that she can’t stand being away from school, her voice, and millions of other girls need to be heard. Undoubtedly, the lack of education for women in Afghanistan is a huge and irreparable damage to society. The future generation of Afghanistan should not grow up in darkness and ignorance.

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Photo by Paula Lobo/Getty Images for Gates Archive)

This blog was written by Zahra Joya, Journalist & Founder, Rukhshana Media.