Education International

ATROAfghan Teachers' Rights Observatory

Testimony

Anonymous, female, university professor

I currently live in Kabul.

Before the Taliban came to power, I was teaching in a school. Two months after they came to power, I could no longer teach.

In the field of education women are facing serious problems. I would like to address one of the main problems that I am currently witnessing, which is the problem of physical and psychological insecurity for female teachers and students.

Professors who want to continue their work cannot accept this risk - neither for themselves nor their families.

There are still professors who continue to teach in the current bad situation and serious problems plague them. Among them are the lack of livelihood and the lack of security from the Taliban government. So far, the Taliban government does not have a serious plan to solve the problems of teaching and educating women; they also cannot create a safe environment.

A teacher who leaves home every day to teach not only has to deal with her own fears and feelings of insecurity, but also must deal with her family’s fears and anxieties every day.

So, here’s the problem.

Can female teachers create a safe environment for their students with this fear and insecurity?

Can students learn with a good quality of education with this sense of insecurity transmitted from their teachers?

In my opinion, if this problem is not taken seriously by the Taliban government, it will cause a huge disaster in the field of teaching and educating women and girls in Afghanistan.

More Testimonies

Anonymous, ex-teacher, female

Most of my family members are teachers, mother, sister, and brother. With the arrival of the Taliban, we lost our jobs.

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Zuhal was a female teacher for 10 years in a girls’ school in Kabul

We do not have a good social and educational life: my daughters are at home, and I am not allowed to teach. We are deprived of our legal rights.

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Anonymous, female secondary school teacher, union, and women’s rights activist

I am a former provincial leader of the National Teachers’ Elected Council. At the same time, I have been a women’s rights activist for a long time, advocating for girls’ education and participation of women in different organizations. Due to my engagement with teachers’ union and women’s rights activism, I was one of the most well-known people in my city which put me in imminent danger.

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All testimonies