ISLAMABAD/KABUL: As Sofia logs in to class on a laptop in Kabul for the online English course run by one of the growing numbers of educational institutes trying to reach Afghanistan’s women and girls digitally in their houses, her computer screen freezes.
When a teacher calls on Sofia to read the passage, she cannot cope with disruptive internet service. “Can you hear me?” the teacher repeatedly asks, checking her connection. After a while, her computer stammer back to life.
“As usual,” a fellow student equally frustrated with the bad communication sighs as the class gets going again.
Afghan girls and women
Sofia is one of a growing stream of Afghan girls and women going online as a last resort to get around the Taliban administration’s restrictions on studying and working.
Taliban officials, citing problems related to Islamic dress, have closed girls’ high schools, barred their access to universities, and stopped most women from working at non-governmental organizations.
The most striking change since the Taliban was first in power from 1996 to 2001 is the explosion of the internet.
In fact, no one had access to the internet when the Taliban were forced from power in the weeks after the 11 Sept 2001 attacks on the United States.
After nearly two decades of Western-led involvement and engagement with the world, 18 percent of the population had internet access, according to the World Bank(WB).
The Taliban government has allowed girls to study individually at the house and has not moved to ban the internet, which its officials use to make announcements via social media.
But girls and women face many issues, from power cuts to cripplingly slow internet speeds, let alone the cost of computers and wifi in a country where 97% of citizens live in poverty.
“For girls and women in Afghanistan, we have a bad, awful internet issue,” Sofia said.
