As the summer break is over, students in the UK resume schooling. Afghan women and girls are still forbidden from attending secondary school. And have little access to public life at large because of the Taliban’s prohibitive policies. Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, girls over 12 have been forbidden to go to schools, sit for a university examination. And work in some authorise places such as salons. Sheltered and in private, they are also kept from the parks, clubs, or even gyms and surrounded by the same grievances hoping for change despite the elusive promises of the Taliban about reforms.
Mah’s Journey to the UK AfghanÂ
Mah, a 22-year-old Afghan woman, flees the country when the Taliban swoops into Kabul in 2021. Now she is in the UK trying to get admission and start with education from GCSE English in Cardiff. In spite of welcome the opportunity presented by sandwiched between the four walls in a strange city. Mah has not been able to forget her friends stuck in Afghanistan. And are not allowed even to go out of their houses and get educated.
The Taliban has always attempted to provide justification for these restrictions on women education. That is, these institutions would be opened to women teachers or students once an ‘Islamic’ education is offered. There has been no such curriculum, and no Indian women in any such advanced as Afghanistan fails to develop its educational system for women owing to threats of such magnitude.
A Lot of Sacrifices Have to be Made AfghanÂ
There were many dangers on the way to the United Kingdom that Mah had to endure when she made the journey from Afghanistan. First she fled Helmand province where she was residing and then moved to Kabul. The transition was emotionally painful without which Mah could have left her family without a proper farewell. Even though this was hard for Mah, who still would have to risk everything she had in her attempts to make a fresh start and create a career in Wales.
Help from Urdd in Wales
After her arrival to Wales, she was supported by the youth organization, Urdd, which helps refugees in Cardiff. Mah arrived in the U.K. knowing no English. Now she has become fluent in English and is also learning Welsh. Thanks to Urdd’s support, refugees in cases like Mah’s have been able to find their place within Welsh society and go to schools.
Aqdas’s Journey to the US
Seventeen years of age Afghan refugee girl Aqdas had to flee to the US following a total scholarship bound for education in America. She remembers the terrifying moment. When the Taliban occupied Kabul. She was afraid of losing her freedom as her mother did twenty years ago. With the help of the Herat online school. AQDAS was able to pursue her studies. And refused to live under the shadow of Taliban rule.
Mah and Aqdas are also examples of resilience as. They are determined to find ways to pursue their education from other countries, regardless of the circumstances.
