Afghan girls log on for lessons

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Sitting behind a computer in a classroom and communicating in English with her tutor thousands of miles away in Canada, Anahita whispered with pride that she receives online education from teachers in the United States and Canada every day.

“The times have changed and it is a fact that education for women is vital for Afghanistan’s development,” Anahita said.

Dressed in traditional female attire, the 19-yearold, who uses the Skype application to talk to her overseas tutors, called upon all girls in Kandahar and Afghanistan at large to be allowed to learn and serve the nation.

“I come here every day and regularly attend classes with the online education center to develop my knowledge and I am calling upon all girls to do so, because Afghanistan’s development and progress depend on women’s education,” she said, adding that she and her classmates are thankful to the Kandahar Institute of Modern Studies.

KIMS is a private education center that has been operating over the past couple of years in the Taliban birthplace of Kandahar. It facilitates the education of women and girls through online tuition from teachers in the US and Canada.

Taliban militants, who emerged in the southern Kandahar province in the 1990s and extended their reign across 90 percent of Afghanistan until their dethroning in late 2001, had outlawed education for girls and confined women to their houses.

It was a dream of every girl and boy in Kandahar to go to school one day, said 20-year-old Hassina, another student of KIMS.

“Thank God that today we have peace in Kandahar and can learn online using Skype and other internet facilities,” she said.

“We now live in peace and foreign teachers from thousands of miles away teach us online at international standards.”

Kandahar experienced bloody terrorist attacks ranging from suicide car bombings, targeted killings including attacks on civilians, and girls suffering acid attacks, for more than a decade.

However, the situation has changed in the past few years and the area has come to be regarded as one of the relatively more peaceful provinces in the insurgency-plagued nation.

Teachers from Canada and the US, according to Ahsanullah Ahsan, the head of KIMS, have been teaching the girls via online facilities in Kandahar free of charge and so far 550 girls have benefited from the project.

KIMS is looking forward to expanding its activities to other areas of Afghanistan in the future, Ahsan said.

The times have changed and ... education for women is vital for Afghanistan’s development.”

Anahita, KIMS student