Daricha Schools

The Network of Community Schools for Girls in Afghanistan

The girls of Afghanistan have been silenced — not by choice, but by the decree of a regime that fears their potential. Girls’ education above the sixth grade is banned under Taliban law. Yet, even under such darkness, a quiet but steadfast resistance continues in the form of the Network of Community Schools for Girls in Afghanistan (NCSGA) — known to many as Daricha.

Daricha is an independent organization that aims to educate girls in Afghanistan through underground home schools. Daricha schools operating in 19 provinces of Afghanistan are crucial in empowering young girls who may not otherwise have access to education due to political and social barriers. Home schools are currently the only option to provide secondary education for girls in Afghanistan. Daricha’s home schools offer regular in-person classes in the provinces where the network is active, and there is an enabling environment to hold classes. Daricha has over 4500 students and 175 qualified teachers in provinces where regular in-person courses are being held, and the number of students enrolling in in-person classes is growing every day. The curriculum consists of core school subjects and specialized courses on various topics to equip students with essential academic knowledge and critical thinking skills.

Science To All will be providing assistance to these community schools through several projects. The initial project is presenting a set of videos of physics demonstrations using locally available materials. These videos include Farsi captions and are made available to the Daricha teachers through WhatsApp as well as through this website. The goal is to eventually have a competition where students from these schools present their own versions of the demonstrations with prizes awarded.