“To be able to stand on my feet” — Afghan girls share their future dreams

When the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021, girls were no longer allowed to attend schools. LEARN, a nonprofit co-founded by Malala Fund Education Champion, Pashtana Durrani, is changing that. 4 Afghan students recount what they miss most about school, their favourite subjects and more. 

For International Women’s Day, we are uplifting the voices of girls and women facing gender apartheid in Afghanistan. This institutionalised, systematic oppression and domination of one gender group over another has pushed girls and young women out of the classroom and taken away their right to dream.

Pashtana Durrani knows the importance of education for girls in Afghanistan as a tool for empowerment and agency. “Education has to be empowering you in a way where you financially, emotionally, physically. It is also a safety net for all the girls who are learning now or will learn in the future.”  

LEARN has established 18 schools in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which serve around 300 students in courses ranging from animation, web design, and Javascript to English language and journalism workshops. LEARN also supports in-person and online learning in Bamyan, Herat, and Takhar provinces in Afghanistan. 

We asked 4 Afghan girls from LEARN — a nonprofit co-founded by Malala Fund Education Champion, Pashtana Durrani — what they miss most about the classroom, their favourite subjects to study, dreams for the future, and the women they admire.

What is your dream to be in the future? 

“I have always been fascinated by the advancement in medicine. So, I would try to implement my best knowledge through medicine. I look forward to this job opportunity as a step ahead towards achieving my dream in life.” — Lima, 17 

“My dream is to become a doctor in the future, but in the current situation, I don’t think I will achieve my dream, but I am trying very hard to reach my goal” — Malika, 14

“I want to be a doctor in the future.” — Sara, 14

“My dream for the future is to be able to stand on my feet and be a useful person to society and the people.” — Zainab, 18

What do you miss most about going to school?

“Many students [will] miss their school library, laboratory. They don’t always have access to such facilities when they are at home. I always miss school days, like [when] we had a competition between my friends or two classes. I also can't forget our teacher's day when we were celebrating it. We had a lot of fun. I have a lot of memories from my school.” — Lima, 17 

“I remember a lot when I and my classmate who thought together I remember every aspect of the school when they take the exam. The moment I spent in the school I remember a lot. At the moment, I am not one, but all girls [out of school].” — Malika, 14

“I remember my classmates from my school days, and the time I spent with them and my lessons.” — Sara, 14 

“A school is a place comparable to a home. A person spends a long time in school [as in a home] and I miss everything that is in school.” — Zainab, 18 

What does a typical school day look like for you as a student?

“A typical day is to start school simply, go to school. Start lessons like other days. The teacher comes to class and we continue our lessons. Eat snacks with and have some fun.” — Lima, 17

“A normal day at school means going to school happily, it’s not that there is no closure or tomorrow, it’s going to school and continuing to study and writing notes, and the dreams that I want in the future are very few.”  — Malika, 14

“On normal school days, I was very happy. I was satisfied with my lessons and spent hours with my classmates.” — Sara, 14 

“In the past, everyone was happy and studied together in the same environment.” — Zainab, 18

What is your favorite subject/class to study and why?

“That’s easy! I loved writing and English competitions. I didn’t learn to paint that well, however, I loved writing and if the teacher gave us a subject to write about Eid my pencil was already writing a topic before the teacher finished.” — Lima, 17

“My favorite subject is biology and chemistry because every human being likes a subject according to the purpose and these are the basic subjects.” — Malika, 14

“My favorite subjects are biology and English because I am very interested in these subjects and the teachers teach them correctly, so they learn quickly and I like them.” — Sara, 14

“I liked all the subjects of the school very much and studied with great interest, especially mathematics, biology and chemistry.”  — Zainab, 18

Who is one woman you look up to in your life and why?

“To be honest, it's my mother. She always takes care of me even now that I am older. I learned from my mom how to stand in front of a problem. My mom always works hard for us, she cooks my favourite food for me. I am very satisfied with my mother and I love her.” — Lima, 17

“I see a lot of women [I admire] but my aunt she is the best doctor and I also want to be a doctor like her.” — Malika, 14

“The woman whose footsteps I want to follow the most is my mother because she always tried to educate herself, faced many difficulties, and did everything for us.” — Sara, 14 

“In the past, I looked up to many women and set them as my role model, but now that I know about Miss Pashtana Durrani, I like to look up to her because she is a very successful and wise woman.” — Zainab, 18

Editor’s note: These answers have been edited for clarity.