Secret schools: Afghan girls defy Taliban, take huge risks to continue studies

The older girls in Afghanistan schools are familiar with the procedure when inspectors show up at the school gate, which happens most weeks now. They sneak out of class, dash to a musty room, and huddle there for long time, occasionally even for hours, so that they are not seen by the guys who want to keep them locked up at home. In the world, the Taliban are the only group that forbid girls from attending secondary school.

After the US military left the country and the militant group took control, learning algebra is now considered to be an illegal act of resistance. Teenagers must consider what will happen if they are discovered in a classroom in addition to worrying about difficult arithmetic, English grammar, or Persian poetry.

Taliban representatives assert that the prohibition is only temporary, citing numerous reasons such as the necessity to alter security, uniforms, teachers, buildings, or curricula. But many Afghans can still clearly recall the group's previous six-year rule, during which female schools were "temporarily" closed.

As a result, women and men all over Afghanistan started resisting as their daughters felt the pain of their ambitions of becoming physicians, pilots, engineers, teachers, or artists crushed. All around the nation, "secret schools" have popped up, as diverse as the teachers in charge of them. Some are offered online, although only a small percentage of Afghans have cellphones and data access.

Some are private schools that continue to run largely as they did in the past, free from the lingering shadow of terror. Others are far more impromptu attempts that serve more as morale boosters and alternatives for females who are studying in the hopes that schools will reopen.

(with inputs from agencies)