Every morning after breakfast, Afghan teenager Prina Muradi turns on the television, not to watch movies or cartoons, but to study math, science and literature.
Muradi, 16, has not been to school since 2021, when the Taliban took over the country and barred girls from secondary education.
But she is now embarking on a race to catch up, thanks to a satellite television channel which broadcasts from France the entire Afghan school program intended for girls excluded from school.
“I have regained hope,” Muradi said from his home in Kabul, the capital. “It’s a battle against ignorance.”
Begum TV is the brainchild of Swiss-Afghan media entrepreneur Hamida Aman, founder of the Begum Organization for Women (BOW), a non-profit organization that supports girls and women in Afghanistan.
Last November, BOW launched Begum Academy, a digital platform hosting some 8,500 videos covering Afghan secondary school curricula in Dari and Pashto, the country’s official languages.
But most girls don’t have access to the Internet. Aman therefore created Begum TV in March to reach a wider audience.
“The most powerful media in Afghanistan is television,” Aman told Context.
“We are not here to interfere in politics or bring down the regime. Our mission is to help our sisters in their daily struggles and to support our children in their education.”
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that excludes girls from school.
The Taliban have also barred women from university and most jobs, and restricted their freedom of movement, echoing severe restrictions imposed when they first seized power in 1996.
New laws banning women from speaking or showing their faces in public have sparked fresh international outrage.
A teacher is filmed teaching a geometry lesson for Begum Academy. Begum TV/document via Thomson Reuters Foundation
A teacher is filmed teaching a geometry lesson for Begum Academy. Begum TV/document via Thomson Reuters Foundation
Underground schools
Girls’ education made significant progress following the end of the first Taliban regime in 2001, with increasing numbers pursuing education and careers – progress that has now been eroded.
“We were completely heartbroken,” Muradi said, remembering the day she was kicked out of school.
“I wanted to become a lawyer or a journalist. But with the collapse of Afghanistan, it felt like my dreams were crumbling too.”
The school ban has already affected about 1.4 million girls, according to UNESCO, the United Nations’ educational and cultural agency, and that number is rising each year as more students complete the primary level.
In 2022, Muradi’s family moved from northern Afghanistan to Kabul so she could attend underground schools operating secretly in the capital.
But her parents were still afraid she would get caught.
The launch of Begum TV provided her with a lifeline, allowing her to study at home.
While his two brothers go to school, Muradi takes notes in front of the television.
She follows the same national curriculum as her brothers, even if classes are often interrupted by power cuts.
His favorite subjects are mathematics and Dari literature.
Begum TV host Getee Azami presents her show Kasp wa kar from Paris, dedicated to supporting female entrepreneurship. Begum TV/document via Thomson Reuters Foundation
Begum TV host Getee Azami presents her show Kasp wa kar from Paris, dedicated to supporting female entrepreneurship. Begum TV/document via Thomson Reuters Foundation
Pressure on the media
Antonia Eser-Ruperti, media expert at UNESCO, said that while media can never replace a classroom, it plays an increasingly important role in closing educational gaps.
A number of radio and television stations broadcast educational content, but Begum is the only media outlet to broadcast the entire program specifically aimed at girls.
Ironically, the inspiration came from the Taliban themselves, Aman said.
Five months before the former insurgent group returned to power, BOW had launched Radio Begum, an FM station for women and girls that offered educational and entertainment programs.
Although the Taliban have not criticized Radio Begum’s educational output, they have pressured the station for some other content.
A government official told Aman that authorities needed to act, but mentioned that if Begum was a satellite broadcaster, there was nothing they could do.
“That’s how the idea came to me,” she said.
Begum TV, financed by international organizations and private philanthropic foundations, is hosted from Paris by 10 Afghan journalists and presenters now living in France.
In the evenings, it broadcasts entertainment including a dubbed Bollywood drama – a favorite of Muradi’s family – as well as music and talk shows.
These cover everything from health and women’s rights to sensitive issues like domestic violence.
“This is the freedom we have because of satellite,” Aman said. “Afghan media are now very closely scrutinized, but satellite television allows us to circumvent censorship.”
She said entertainment shows were important in supporting the mental health of girls and women, who have been seriously affected by the increasing demands on their lives.
Begum TV’s Getee Azami records presenter Diba Akbari’s show in Paris. Begum TV/document via Thomson Reuters Foundation
Begum TV’s Getee Azami records presenter Diba Akbari’s show in Paris. Begum TV/document via Thomson Reuters Foundation
Children drop out of primary school
More than half of Afghans have access to satellite television, according to a 2023 report from BBC Media Action. Anecdotal evidence suggests it is growing in popularity as the Taliban cracks down on entertainment and free information.
Although most of Begum TV’s viewers are in Afghanistan, some are in Pakistan and Iran, where many Afghan refugees live.
Begum Academy plans to launch an app in December allowing students to access classes offline and interact with teachers more easily.
It also conducts exams that will help top students join online universities.
Aman said the American University of Afghanistan, now based in Doha, and Arizona State University had agreed to recognize the academy’s exam certificate and hoped others would follow.
Preparations are also underway to launch classes at the primary school, meeting demand from parents and students.
Although schools remain open to girls, UNESCO said the quality of education has deteriorated and many children – both girls and boys – have dropped out of school.
Factors include worsening poverty and a severe shortage of teachers, made worse by the Taliban’s ban on women teaching boys.
But there are also broader challenges.
Aman, who frequently visits Afghanistan, said it was frightening to see how quickly the ban on girls’ education had become normalized.
“These girls are desperate because the only alternative left to them is to get married,” she added.
Back in Kabul, Muradi says many young teenagers were married off following the school ban, including her best friend, who married at 15.
Muradi herself has other plans.
“No matter what, I have to continue my studies,” she said.
“I am determined to show the world that Afghan girls and women can achieve great success.”
