Summary: <p>It’s been more than<span> </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64045497">3 weeks</a><span> </span>since the Taliban government in Afghanistan announced that women were<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/12/20/1144502320/the-taliban-took-our-last-hope-college-education-is-banned-for-women-in-afghanis"><span> </span>banned</a><span> </span>from attending colleges and universities. It’s yet another gut-wrenching — but not unexpected —<span> </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64045497">reversal</a><span> </span>of the regime’s<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/23/asia/taliban-women-freedoms-intl/index.html"><span> </span>initial promises</a><span> </span>to respect women’s rights. The college ban effectively means that the highest level of education most Afghan girls will now be able to receive is 6th grade.</p> <p>We speak with<span> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/sbasijrasikh">Shabana Basij-Rasikh</a>, co-founder and president of the<span> </span><a href="https://www.sola-afghanistan.org/">School of Leadership, Afghanistan</a> (SOLA), a girls’ boarding school, about Afghan women and girls' determination to continue their educations. SOLA is now based in Rwanda, having moved after the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan in 2021.</p>
