Feature: Afghan girls receive online education in former Taliban stronghold

by Abdul Haleem

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Sitting behind a computer in a classroom and communicating in English with her tutor thousands of miles away in Canada, Anahita whispered with pride that she receives online education from teachers in the United States and Canada every day.

"The times have changed and it is a fact that education for women is vital for Afghanistan's development," Anahita told Xinhua in her classroom recently.

Dressed in traditional female attire, 19-year-old Anahita, who uses the Skype application to talk to her overseas tutors, called upon all girls in Kandahar and Afghanistan at large to be allowed to learn and serve the nation.

"I come here every day and regularly attend classes with the online education center to develop my knowledge and I am calling upon all girls to do so, because Afghanistan's development and progress depend on women's education," she said, adding that she and her classmates are thankful to the Kandahar Institute of Modern Studies (KIMS).

KIMS is a private education center that has been operating over the past couple of years in the Taliban birthplace of Kandahar. It facilitates the education of women and girls through online tuition from teachers in the U.S. and Canada.

Taliban militants, who emerged in the southern Kandahar province in the 1990s and extended their reign across 90 percent of Afghanistan until their dethroning in late 2001, had outlawed education for girls and confined women to their houses.

Without doubt, it was a dream of every girl and boy in Kandahar, the former stronghold of the Taliban, to go to school one day, said 20-year-old Hassina, another student of KIMS.

"No doubt, it was a dream for us to see a peaceful Kandahar and go to school one day. Thank God that today we have peace in Kandahar and can learn online using Skype and other internet facilities," Hassina said.

"We now live in peace and foreign teachers from thousands of miles away teach us online at international standards," the joyful Hassina asserted.

Kandahar, once the spiritual capital of Taliban militants, experienced bloody terrorist attacks ranging from suicide car bombings, targeted killings including attacks on civilians, and girls suffering acid attacks, for more than a decade.

However, the situation has changed over the past few years and Kandahar has come to be regarded nowadays as one of the relatively more peaceful provinces in insurgency-plagued Afghanistan.

Teachers from Canada and the U.S., according to Ahsanullah Ahsan the head of KIMS, have been teaching the girls via online facilities in Kandahar free of charge and so far 550 girls have benefited from the project.

The online education center of KIMS in Kandahar is looking forward to expanding its activities in the future, Ahsan said with optimism. Enditem