A private institute in the West of Kabul, Afghanistan, where girls follow the American curriculum in English, but cannot obtain any Afghan official education certificate, nor can they go to university in Afghanistan, closed for women. Photographed on 17 February 2024. This is a rare instance where the school has managed to secure the local Taliban’s approval to shut a blind eye on the school’s operation with teenage girls. 700 female highschool students study at this institute everyday under strict security measurement while two armed security guards from the community watch the gate and girls enter and exit one by one, leaving their backpacks at the entrance. Despite suicide bombers’ attacks that took place before the takeover, the institute remains full of girls, whose dreams are now to leave the country to continue their education abroad. Despite the Taliban's promises, girls high schools never reopened after the fall. As of today, girls are only allowed to study until grade 6, and are barred from both high schools and universities. However underground schools set up at homes, mosques or alternative spaces continue educating girls, at a high risk.
Nazanin (21) with a creme scarf and her friends, Salima (22), Madina (19), Zulaikha (20), from left to right, go out to Bandi Bargh (Electricity Dam) for picnic, in Daikundi, Afghanistan, on 19 March 2021, a day before the arrival of the new year. All girls are from far out districts of Daikundi and unable to go home for this year's Now Rooz celebration. This Now Rooz marks the start of a new century in the Gregorian calendar.
A school textbook, damaged by shrapnel that pierced through the map of Afghanistan, remains on top of a pile. Photographed in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 8 May 2021. Bystanders—mostly members of the community—collect body parts, clothing, and personal belongings of those injured or killed in the explosion and leave them below the school's exterior wall for families to collect and identify them.
Credit: Kiana Hayeri
