My School – Girls’ Education Under the Taliban
This story was written by Rana (pseudonym), a writer in Afghanistan, originally in Persian. It has been translated to English.
- Find the Farsi version here.
She woke up at 5.30 am in the morning for fear of being late for school, even though she had already ironed her clothes and white scarf the day before to the point that they were glistening. Eager to learn and study, she had diligently adorned her notebooks with self-painted colorful covers and then placed them in her black backpack.
The excitement, eagerness, nervousness, and stress of starting new classes, at a new school a long distance from home, could be seen in her puffy, infected, sleepy eyes.
By 6.00 am, she was dressed in her black, robe-like, school clothes. She had braided her beautiful long hair and covered it with the white glistening scarf. Taking her back in her hand, she left the door.
I said: “It’s still very early. School only starts at 7.00 am.”
She turned her face towards me and smiled beautifully, overjoyed at the idea of returning to school, and said: “I am going already as my friends are waiting for me, so we can find our way and walk to school together, as it’s a long way from here.”
But, unfortunately, when she reached the school, the gates remained shut. She waited there for hours waiting for the gates to open, but the gates did not open for reasons that are incomprehensible and irrational.
This unjustifiable decision to keep the school closed was made by our self-assured rulers, the Islamic Emirate, who ironically see themselves as the protectors of Islam. All her smiles and excitement at the prospect of going to school were turned into tears full of pain and contempt.
There is no bigger crime in Afghanistan than being a girl.
Wednesday, 23rd March 2022
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