How distance learning keeps Afghan girls’ education hopes alive

From Bangladesh to Switzerland, grassroots efforts are multiplying to help women and girls in Afghanistan study online in defiance of a ban on education. Rights advocates say it’s time for states to step up pressure on the Taliban to restore this basic human right. At 19, Mahbube Ibrahimi spends much of her time studying. She’s finishing secondary school in Zurich, her home since arriving in Switzerland just two years ago. If she were still living in her native Afghanistan, Ibrahimi would be shut inside the family home, banned like all girls and women from an education beyond primary school. Distraught at the situation in her homeland, in 2023 Ibrahimi created an online learning platform for girls in Afghanistan. Called Wild Flower, the non-profit venture now has 70 volunteer teachers in Europe and some 120 students in Afghanistan keen to learn subjects like maths, computer science and English. Ibrahimi, whose goal is to reach 500 girls, is gratified by the impact it’s having.