Inside Afghanistan's secret schools

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In March 2022, seven months after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, second level education was banned for girls, leaving around 1.1 million of them without access to formal schooling. Then in December that year, all female students were refused access to universities and colleges. But across the country, Afghan women and girls are fighting back, and defying the Taliban government by continuing their education in secret. Founded and, for the most part, staffed by women, secret schools have started to emerge from the shadows, offering online and in-person classes to those brave enough to attend. BBC Afghan broadcast journalist, Sana Safi, takes us inside two such secret schools, and into the hearts and minds of those who, despite the risks, refuse to be denied an education. (Photo: A classroom with students. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Hannah and I'm very excited to be hosting What in the World, a new daily podcast
0:06.2	from the BBC World Service, where we try to help you make sense of the world around you,
0:11.3	of the big things that are happening, the small things that are happening and everything
0:15.2	in between.
0:16.2	Search for What in the World, wherever you get your BBC podcasts and hit subscribe.
0:30.8	Hello, it's a lot of welcome.
0:32.4	How are you? Can you hear my voice?
0:35.8	So we finally did it.
0:37.8	It hasn't been easy.
0:39.2	It has taken time to build trust and to get this access.
0:43.8	But as we speak, I'm on my laptop and trying to connect to a classroom full of young
0:50.0	Afghan girls.
0:51.2	Can you stand at the back, please?
0:53.0	Can you stand at the back so I can see the whole class?
0:55.8	And if you can hold your camera like this, that would really,
0:59.3	if you hold it.
1:02.1	The woman holding that laptop and waving the in-built camera around for me is a teacher,
1:07.6	but not just any teacher.
1:10.1	What I'm watching unfold is a secret class, held at a secret school, at an undisclosed
1:16.1	location in Afghanistan.
1:19.1	Their secret because the Taliban government has banned second and third level education
1:23.7	for women and girls.
	...

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