Promoting online study for Afghan women
Project: Promoting online studies for Afghan women
The project aims to enable a larger number of Afghan women to study - despite the ban in the country itself. By supporting interested women in selecting suitable courses and universities as well as in applying for and taking up studies, the project aims to reduce the barriers to taking up online studies.
Initial situation
Currently, women in Afghanistan are denied access to higher education domestically. An alternative are online courses from universities and similar institutions abroad. However, there are various obstacles for Afghan women to take part in such courses. These range from knowing about the existence of such courses, to selecting the most suitable institutions, topics and courses, to successfully applying for and completing the courses in online format and possibly also limited prior knowledge of some relevant subjects.
If these hurdles can be reduced, more Afghan women should be able to take such courses. After successfully completing the course, the women have significantly better career opportunities and a higher income as well as a higher social reputation. The increased number of educated Afghan women with degrees in subjects such as economics or health issues also benefits the Afghan country as a whole.
Goals and solution
The project target group is young Afghan women who are potentially interested in studying online at a foreign university. These women should have a good command of English in order to participate in the courses, a certain level of education (e.g. a high school diploma) in order to successfully participate in the courses, and the motivation and time to do so.
The project goal is to reduce the various barriers to participating in online university courses for Afghan women.
The following hurdles have been identified so far (each with an indication of possible support within the project framework):
Hurdles Possible support Limited knowledge of the possibility of pursuing online university courses abroad Promoting knowledge about this option among relevant group of women (tools to be defined, e.g. lectures, websites). Limited information about which courses are available at which institutions and their quality. Create and publish an overview of relevant institutions with their offerings (website or Word document), ideally in collaboration with the institutions. Limited experience in the course application process Support in the specific application process, e.g. by offering information and explanations on how to deal with the application process, ideally as individual advice. Limited experience in preparing relevant documents for the application process (e.g. writing essays, being interviewed, etc.). Personal review of relevant documents and discussion with the project member. If necessary, interview training, e.g. B. via Zoom. Limited resources to fund courses Collection of information about scholarships from universities and other institutions. Direct granting of scholarships based on donations if donors can be identified. Difficulty completing courses due to a lack of initial knowledge at the start of the course Offering short online courses or mentoring before the course begins to supplement missing knowledge. Difficulty completing courses due to problems understanding course content Offering personal mentoring to help with difficulties.
Partner and duration
The approach and selection of project participants takes place in collaboration with StayIN’s local individual cooperation partner. These partners have the necessary contacts and networks to identify suitable candidates for project participation.
It is planned to initially carry out the project as a pilot project with a very limited number of participants and services offered, e.g. by limiting it to only 5-10 participants and limiting support to points 3 and 4 above (help in the application process). Since these steps do not require significant financial resources, this pilot project can be started quickly. If successful, the experience gained can be used to expand the concept to other aspects of support as well as to the number of participants. For such an expansion it is then necessary to obtain financial resources.
In principle, the project has no time limit, although the support of each individual project participant will probably be limited to around 1 year.