Pandemic Halts Schooling for Afghan Students

Students in Afghanistan have lacked access to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as schools have remained closed and the virus has not been controlled.

"The real tragedy is that over 3,000 students in Kabul who come from poor families simply do not have the ability to pursue online education during the pandemic when schools are closed," said Aziz Royesh, a teacher and founder of the Marefat High School in Kabul.  "They don't have the internet or mobiles. And even if they did, Kabul has electricity for only a few hours a day," he explained. Royesh is one of the top 10 finalists worldwide, of 5,000 nominees, for the prestigious Global Teacher Prize of the Varkey Foundation in London. He was able to attend school until age 10, when he fled to Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.