Najma Najwa, MSc alumnus, EDU, UEA

After the Taliban took control of the government in Afghanistan, they closed all girls’ schools and
recently banned universities and jobs for girls and women. With this context, the idea was developed
to create an online school which could operate from abroad and create opportunities for girls in
Afghanistan to study. Education Bridging Afghanistan (EBA) is a social enterprise started by Najma, the Afghan diaspora and British colleagues to provide online education under the Afghan Girls Access To Education (AGATE) project.
This project covers a complete school curriculum with special tutorials on digital literacy and personal development. We have piloted this project as of 15th Aug 2022 by registering 400 students. The students study free of charge, and the teachers who teach at the online secondary school are volunteers. We raised funds through an online fundraiser and donations. For financial sustainability, we are now planning to create another project which can be implemented in the UK.
This UK-based project will create a funding stream for supporting AGATE by providing Afghan arts and culture courses and Persian language online training. Participants will be charged fees. Thus, this project will not only fundraise for AGATE, but will also help raise awareness and knowledge about Afghan arts, the Persian language and literature among those living in the UK. There will be a potential opportunity for the Afghan-British students to collaborate online and exchange ideas, culture, experience and knowledge with students in Afghanistan.