'We can achieve our goals': Female Afghan students thank B.C. man for online schooling

A new resident to B.C. is helping hundreds of Afghan women and girls continue their education.

Jahed Masiullah fled to Surrey soon after the Taliban took control of Kabul in August 2021. Since arriving, he has been eager to help those left behind in Afghanistan, so he began creating online classes through Google Teams to help students continue their education after it was banned.

"Girls in Afghanistan are facing huge depression and stress. Also, they are facing hopelessness and facing an unknown and unclear future," said Jahed.

Jahed and his group Global Goals Organization for Prosperity (GGOP) is staffed with eight teachers, all former university students before the Taliban takeover. Each day, the teachers conduct English and science classes for over 250 students across the country, free of charge.

"Also, the cost of the internet connections, since there is an economic problem in Afghanistan as well," said Jahed.

The young human rights advocate says GGOP has been overwhelmed with the number of students looking to sign up, but because they run on donations, they have been forced to create a lengthy waitlist.

"The primary right of a human being is education," said Jahed.

"We can cover a limited number of students, but I'm very enthusiastic about sharing the program and the project with the organizations that are helping woman empowerment or education in Afghanistan."

For more information on how to support the group, Jahed asked people to contact GGOP on social media.

CTV News attended a class and spoke to several students, all of whom said they were grateful for this opportunity to continue their education.

"This program is very good because we can continue our lessons," said one of the younger students in the class.

"We want to improve our English," said a teenage classmate.

Another classmate believes the course is allowing them to maintain their academics, saying, “We can achieve our goals.”

The GGOP class is not accredited, which brings further uncertainty for their futures as their progression through the grades has stalled.

"We should be going to courses and school to study and continue our education," a passionate high school student said.

Her classmate said, " I cannot continue my English, and I cannot continue my future."

Nipa Banerjee, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa in the School of International Development and Global Studies and an expert in Afghan politics, says the Taliban is making moves to potentially reinstate education for those in Grade 6 and above.

She says the Taliban has attempted to gauge public feedback in rural areas, but a timeline for when a return to school could, or if it will happen, is unknown.

"There has not been much progress in getting a promise from the Taliban regarding the timing when secondary schooling will be introduced," said Banerjee.

"When they are able to revise the curriculum for secondary schools, that will be Sharia-based."

As for the safety of students taking online classes with GGOP, Jahed says that the Taliban has not banned online schooling. He is hopeful that the students will return to the in-person classroom soon.