Nearly five years after the Taliban barred girls from secondary schools, Hamasa Akbari spends her days sewing traditional Afghan clothing instead of attending classes.
Akbari is one of more than 20 young women working at a tailoring workshop in Bamiyan, where many former classmates have turned to sewing after being denied an education.
“I never imagined that one day schools would close and we would be deprived of education,” she said. “It feels as though we are birds with broken wings trapped in a cage. A solution must be found.”
The workshop has become both a source of income and a refuge for girls whose education came to an abrupt halt. While some produce traditional clothing, others sell the finished garments.
Masouma Rahimi said she took a job as a sales assistant not by choice but out of necessity.
“It has been four years since I was forced to leave school,” she said. “I became a salesperson because I had no other option. I hope the school gates reopen as soon as possible.”
Other young women said the prolonged closure of schools has robbed them not only of education but also of motivation and hope.
“This situation is deeply discouraging,” said Shahla Mohammadi. “We have been away from school for four years. We have grown older, and many of us have lost the motivation to continue our studies.”
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have barred girls from attending secondary schools and universities and have imposed sweeping restrictions on women’s employment and public life.
As a result, thousands of girls and young women have entered trades such as tailoring, handicrafts and small businesses to help support their families and fill the void left by the loss of education.
Many say those jobs provide an income but cannot replace the opportunities they believe education would have offered.
The young women working in the Bamiyan workshop said they continue to hope that schools and universities will eventually reopen and urged the international community to do more to press for the restoration of Afghan girls’ right to education.
For them, the tailoring workshop is more than a workplace. It is a reminder of the lives they expected to lead—and of the classrooms they still hope to return to.
