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13 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 31 AUGUST 2022 OPINION Elaine Unterhalter Elaine Unterhalter is Professor of Education and International Development, UCL IN August 2021 the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, and since then secondary education for girls in the country has been banned. However, there have been reports of clandestine girls' schools operating de- spite the ban. Teenage girls are reportedly taking extraordinary risks to attend les- sons. Their teachers bravely share knowl- edge, even if they do not have extensive experience or the backup of an education system. Education for girls was also banned dur- ing the previous era of Taliban rule in Af- ghanistan (1996-2001). In this period, too, girls attended secret schools. Not much was known about these schools during Taliban rule. A 1997 report noted that the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan supported 125 girls' schools and 87 co-education primary schools and home schools. An article in the Guardian in July 2001 stated that aid agencies had estimated 45,000 children were attending secret schools. After the defeat of the Taliban in 2001, the educational work of the Revolution- ary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), which they carried out during Taliban rule, was much documented. Before 9/11, there was very limited inter- national knowledge of these secret schools for girls. But after 9/11, the misogynistic actions of the Taliban regarding women's rights and girls' education became a pillar of the argument for the US War against Terror. When visiting Afghanistan in December 2001, UNICEF executive director Carole Bellamy referenced secret schools as part of a call for aid funding. The existence of these schools exerted considerable sym- bolic power. A symbolic role Since the 1960s, the education of girls has been promoted in international de- velopment and aid policy as a way to limit population, address economic growth, or attend to political stabilisation. Girls and their education have been portrayed as a development intervention and a "good buy" for project funding. The argument runs that when women are educated and in work, they contribute to reducing pov- erty, enhancing the health of their chil- dren, and promoting social and cultural cohesion. But these policies can fail to address or inquire into the needs, rights or capa- bilities of girls themselves, or the wider conditions of gender and intersecting in- equalities. They are often promoted with- out any sustained engagement with wider policy goals for gender equality or wom- en's rights. A commitment to women's education can be hampered by nsufficient long-term funding for broader gender equality in- itiatives, as well as and inadequate rep- resentation of gender equality concerns in peace-making discussions. They mean that even when girls return to school in large numbers, practices inside and out- side education can still reflect the social divisions and gender inequalities that preceded the conflict. In November 2001, Laura Bush, the wife of US president George W Bush, made a high profile radio address condemning the "severe repression and brutality against women in Afghanistan". "The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women," she said. War was jus- tified because of the Taliban's ban on girls' access to school. A narrative emerged of the need to "save" Muslim women. One consequence of this was the risk that conservative groups in Afghanistan could link the education of women and other women's rights measures to Amer- ican aggression and colonial or geo-po- litical ambitions – meaning that a future anti-American movement could also look to restrict these rights. Nevertheless, in the post-Taliban era (2002-2021), a huge expansion of educa- tion took place in Afghanistan, with many important initiatives in girls' education and women's rights. Profound social di- visions remained, though, and many girls still lacked schooling. The Taliban seizure of power in August 2021 halted the growth of secondary and tertiary education for young women that had taken place over two decades. Prom- ises made by the Taliban about reopening schools in 2022 were retracted. In contrast to the limited reports on clandestine girls' schools in the 1990s, many accounts are now circulating of se- cret schools. The more extensive report- ing may come from better opportunities to share information using new technol- ogies, or from the initiatives of educated girls and women. But, to date, there has been no systemat- ic analysis of these reports. There are re- ported divisions among the Taliban lead- ership on how, or under what conditions, girls should be in secondary school and university. The fragmentary reports mean it is dif- ficult to know who can and cannot attend clandestine schools, what the girls in these schools can and cannot do, and who is fi- nancing them. Wider gender equality In the 2000s, education for women be- came part of the narrative behind the War on Terror. Today, the positioning of girls' schooling, gender and women's rights in the process of peacebuilding remains a work in progress. Key international organisations which oversee the allocation of funding and consult widely on strategic direction re- garding education and gender equality are developing more wide-ranging policy on gender equality and women's rights. An example of this is the UN's Education Cannot Wait. According to its website, Education Cannot Wait is active in Af- ghanistan. But one kind of initiative is seldom enough. Many coordinated processes are needed. These processes of global coop- eration and policy direction are cumber- some and far away from the pressing needs and wishes of girls locked out of school in Afghanistan, but they are a necessary step. The debate continues as to whether girls' education alone is an approach which will allow other transformations to follow – or whether is just a limited intervention, which can be undertaken without en- gaging the politics of peacebuilding that would secure a stronger foundation for women's rights. The history of secret education for girls in Afghanistan – and its use as a political symbol Millions of Afghan girls entered school after the Taliban fell