BADGHIS -- Sada-e-Badghis, a local radio station in Qala-e-Naw city, is dedicating eight hours of programming weekly to bring secondary education to thousands of girls across Badghis province.
The two-hour "Education at Home" programme is broadcast two days a week on 88.8FM and rerun twice a week to maximise its reach.
Abdul Raziq Sediqi, manager of Radio Sada-e-Badghis, said he decided to start providing lessons through his radio station last year.
"When I realised there is no hope for girls' schools to reopen, I started the Education at Home programme together with 10 school and university teachers," he said.
![A 10th grade girl listens to the 'Education at Home' programme broadcast by Radio Sada-e-Badghis in Qala-e-Naw city, Badghis province, on April 16. [Ahmad Jawad/Salaam Times]](/cnmi_st/images/2023/05/01/41909-b_3-739_416.webp)
A 10th grade girl listens to the 'Education at Home' programme broadcast by Radio Sada-e-Badghis in Qala-e-Naw city, Badghis province, on April 16. [Ahmad Jawad/Salaam Times]
![A volunteer teacher reads a school book April 16 at the Radio Sada-e-Badghis studio in Qala-e-Naw city, Badghis province. [Ahmad Jawad/Salaam Times]](/cnmi_st/images/2023/05/01/41910-b_5-739_416.webp)
A volunteer teacher reads a school book April 16 at the Radio Sada-e-Badghis studio in Qala-e-Naw city, Badghis province. [Ahmad Jawad/Salaam Times]
"Teachers record lessons of school subjects daily, and they are then broadcast on the radio according to a schedule."
"The teachers are volunteers, and we also broadcast the Education from Home programme for free," he said.
"In the current difficult situation in which schools are closed and girls are forced to stay at home, we will continue broadcasting the Education from Home programme for humanitarian reasons and to help girls."
Almost 70% of girls in Badghis, including in areas in Qala-e-Naw city and Moqor, Ab Kamari, Qadis and Sang-e-Atish districts, listen to Education from Home, Sediqi said.
The radio programme has taken classrooms from schools and brought lessons to the homes of girls, said Khalil Rahman Sadiq, who teaches secondary school history and geography through Radio Sada-e-Badghis.
"This education programme is very effective," he said. "Girls can easily access school education on the radio or on their mobile phones. We try to teach in a way so that all girls can absorb the lessons."
"In today's world, no one can stop education," Sadiq said.
"If schools are closed to girls right now, there are several other channels such as the radio that provide access to education for girls."
A welcome return to books
Nazgul Ibrahimzada, 18, a 10th grader in Qala-e-Naw, was at home on April 16, listening to the Education at Home programme by herself. She had her Dari book open as she listened to the teacher and took notes.
"Since the launch of this radio programme, I have found the motivation to study again," she said.
"I am very happy that I am able to listen to my school lessons on the radio, and this programme is very effective for us girls."
"When professional teachers teach on the radio, I feel like I am in the classroom," she said. "I hope that the programme will expand and continue, so that we can study."
No country can progress without literate women, Nazgul said.
"As a student, I demand the immediate reopening of schools," she added. "It has been two years of schools being closed. If schools were open, I would have graduated by now."
Shukria Barekzai, 20, an 11th grader in Qala-e-Naw city, said she and other Afghan girls can help Afghanistan progress through education and build a bright future for its people.
"I listen to my teachers very enthusiastically when school lessons start on the radio," she said. "I feel like I am studying in the classroom. Although it is a two-hour programme, I am so interested that the time passes by very fast."
"Since the programme has started, I have become motivated again and study like before," she added. "I will never stop trying and studying."
No logic for school closures
Abdul Ghafoor, 43, a resident of Qala-e-Naw, said it deeply pains him to see his two daughters -- Zulaikha, 19, an 11th grader and Amena, 16, an 8th grader -- deprived of education after the closure of secondary schools for girls.
"Although my daughters have been deprived of education for two years, no one explains to us the logic and motive behind this decision," he said.
"It is very painful that like my daughters, millions of Afghan girls cannot attend school, although there is no religious or logical reason."
Afghanistan's reconstruction and development are impossible unless girls, like boys, are allowed to study and become literate, Abdul Ghafoor said.
"As a father, I call for the immediate reopening of schools for our daughters," he said. "I really can't see the deprivation and pain of my daughters anymore."
Zulaikha said she has felt trapped at home since the closure of schools and has been suffering from mental health issues.
"I miss my classmates and my school badly," she said. "Every night I can't sleep until the middle of the night and cry when I remember the closure of my school."
"I want my school to be reopened. We, all girls, want to study and make a brighter future for ourselves," she said, adding that she wants to become a doctor in the future, but she will never realise her dream if schools are not reopened.
"It is not fair that boys can study while schools are closed to us," she said.
Afghanistan is a backward country that does not have radio, television, or internet in every district and village, and not every house has the facilities for their daughters to use radio and other devices. There are areas in Afghanistan where people need basic facilities. They should be educated to get out of their problems. Tolo News has aired a report which stated that there is an area in Maidan Wardak province called Beik Samand, where only one young man among 800 people knows how to read and write. What do you think that in this situation, out of hundreds of men, only one person is in this state, then what will be the condition of girls in these areas? They perform laborious and difficult work, they are used as means of transport. If there is no education, Afghanistan will have a dark future, and education will be achieved when girls are educated. If a woman gets an education in a house, it is certain that the whole house will live in light and have a bright future.
Reply9 Comment
I am a student do computer science I was in third grade but Taliban banned how I continue please help me
Reply9 Comment
However, experiences have proved that there is a big difference between face-to-face and away learning, and this is still a good start. In education, the world has tried many such tutorial programs to create the same learning in the absence of a teacher as in the presence of a teacher, but this method was not so successful. Here it is about existence and non-existence. This is something good at a time as the schools for girls are currently closed in Afghanistan. It is helpful to start this series on television as well as on the radio. Indeed, many girls will not have access to television, but it is more beneficial than radio because it is taught visually; that is, what is taught can also be seen.
Reply9 Comment
Lack of trust in women's abilities, sacrificing women's rights, and failure to focus on women's interests result from centuries of tyranny and decades of wars, which have profound effects on the domestic, social, and political environment, even women's interpersonal relationships. Everyone sees it daily, but it has become so common in society that it seems normal. We see in families how women are constantly being forced to sacrifice in the name of ritual and tradition, femininity, Pashto [Pashtunwali- code of conduct], and religion for the convenience of the men of the family and the economy of the family, and this is an accepted and normal practice. We see how the oppression of women is called a family problem in the name of tradition in society. We see how women's voices are silenced in the name of honor in society, and they are encouraged to keep their mouths shut on oppression and aggression. We see how women are disadvantaged, but this is standard practice. We know how the integration and unity of women are prevented in the political environment in the name of national interests. We see that there is no share of women in the available resources. We know how every value, such as religion, tribe, party, region, or province, prioritizes women's rights, including some women politicians, but this is standard practice.
Reply9 Comment
Radio and other media can play a perfect role in education; however, online, radio and television education is less effective than face-to-face education. We can have a worse day than this. Throughout history, we have worked for others. If we were even a little worried about our future and our fellow citizens, there would be classroom lessons for girls today, and we would go to universities and schools. Still, we are implementing agendas of ruining our people with the dictation of foreigners. I just read a report by Hassan Abbas, a Pakistani professor, and researcher at the American Defense University. He has revealed the secret deals of the Northern Alliance with Pakistan in his recently published book about the Taliban's return to power. He said that on the brink of the collapse of the Afghan republic under the leadership of Ashraf Ghani, a delegation of the Northern Alliance, including Atta Muhammad Noor's son Khalid Noor, went to Pakistan and presented their requests to the country's prime minister at that time, Imran Khan, and the army chief. He asked Imran Khan and the military chief Bajwa to give them a share in the foundation of the Taliban regime that would be established after the republican system in the axis of Pakistan. Hassan Abbas adds that the leaders of the Northern Alliance, along with the Taliban, have deep ties with Pakistan from the past and are continuing these relationships.
Reply9 Comment
Radio and similar media tools can be used not only for education but also as a good source of learning in every field. Art, business, trade, and education can be obtained from it, but now the media in Afghanistan is facing economic problems. If sponsors are found, and these broadcasts are educational and sponsored, it will benefit the community. We see that money is still being spent, but if spending and publications in the education sector are made or supported, it will have more benefits and privileges.
Reply9 Comment
All the girls of Badghis province have access to the radio. Most of the families do not have a radio at their homes. Closing the school gates to girls is not right. No one can and will not raise their voice. Why has the government closed girls' schools? In all countries, Muslim girls study freely and no one prevents these girls. What is the difference between us and other Islamic countries as in Afghanistan the girls cannot study, while in other countries they do so. Most of the Muftis [decree issuers] of Afghanistan have studied in Pakistan. Why don't Pakistani professors ban girls from schools when here in Afghanistan the students of the same professors ban girls from going to school? Studying at the schools and learning through the radio are very different. In a day at school, a girl studies for six hours, what do you think whether a girl can listen to the radio for six hours to learn something. A girl can't listen to the radio for six hours at home, because there are many children at home, and the girls are bothered by the kids and cannot learn well.
Reply9 Comment
Radio, television, and the internet are all used in education, trade, economy, technology... development. It is an extraordinarily positive step that a radio station and teachers have started such work in such a remote province. It helps to advance the education of girls and boys alongside girls. Radios and televisions in every province should help students in terms of providing educational opportunities. The ruling people in Afghanistan call themselves human beings and religious scholars, but they are robots. These robots are made by Britain and played on the Afghanistan stage by the Pakistani army and intelligence. The stupidity of these robots is better known than the fact that they have ruined Afghanistan's relations with a superpower like the United States. Still, they maintain ties with Pakistan, an illegitimate child of Britain, and continue their politics at their will. They are not Afghans loyal to the interests of Afghanistan, they are not religious scholars who can convey the true spirit and message of religion to the people, and they are not a civilized generation who can provide services according to the demands of the new age.
Reply9 Comment
If anyone wants to study, nothing can prevent it. It was Karzai's era. There were good job opportunities in the public sector and the organizations. However, there were few educational centers in Afghanistan at that time, and all the people could not afford to study because many were in the far located areas and could hardly reach the cities. At that time, learning English was at its peak, and anyone who could understand English could easily find a good work opportunity. I was in the second or third grade. Still, some of the boys in our area had already finished school, so he followed the English language through the radio, and after a few months, they could find suitable jobs for themselves. Some were recruited as interpreters by Americans. The goal is that today there are not one but several teachers in each house; however, education is considered work if one would not get lazy. This teacher does not necessarily have to be a person. Still, a mobile phone with the Internet is also a teacher, lessons downloaded on a computer are also a teacher; radio is also a teacher as lessons can be learned from various programs, especially educational programs. Television is also a teacher. Nowadays, BBC has started a television program that teaches all subjects in video form and presented by Pashtun and Dari languages' presenters in video form, which can be learned very well. So, all these are learning programs, but time needs to be given and followed correctly. I have cooperated with man
Reply9 Comment