Why I opened a secret school for Afghan girls

By Neggeen Sadid

The first sign that the Taliban knew about Roya Azimi’s secret school for girls was when one of her neighbours phoned her last winter. “Tomorrow, they’ll take you away, they’ll take your husband,” the man said coldly. He owned a shop in the area and acted as an unofficial intermediary between local residents and the Taliban. “It’s not my responsibility. I’m just warning you.”

Azimi, 33, set up the school in her home in 2022, when the Taliban issued a de facto ban on secondary education for girls. She and six other women teach about 150 girls between the ages of nine and 18. Knowing there was a chance her house would come under suspicion, she had already found a back-up building with enough room for the pupils. The day after the phone call she went out into the snow-covered streets, whiteboard and markers hidden under her burqa, and set up the new classroom.