Virtual classrooms offer education to Afghan women under Taliban rule

Virtual literature classes hosted by Toronto-based educator Hazrat Wahriz are providing an educational lifeline to young women in Afghanistan. These weekly 90-minute sessions, conducted via Google Meet, allow students to bypass Taliban restrictions that have barred millions of girls from formal schooling since the regime returned to power in 2021.

International human rights groups have characterized the Taliban's sweeping edicts—which restrict women's rights to work, education, and freedom of movement—as a system of ‘gender apartheid.’ According to a recent report by UNESCO, an estimated 2.4 million Afghan girls are currently barred from secondary education, a figure projected to reach four million by 2030.

During a recent session, author Shams Erfan joined the class from Toronto to discuss literature with the students. He encouraged the participants to continue reading, writing, and attending online classes, describing these educational activities as a form of resistance against the current regime's ideology.