Learning after Secondary School: What Online and Distance Options Can Do

AYP Committee Brief 2026/02 · Committee on Education & Human Development

Desk-research brief · Published November 2026
Afghanistan Youth Parliament (AYP) – Think Tank Center

About this brief: a desk-research brief prepared by the AYP Think Tank Center for the Committee on Education & Human Development. It rests only on published sources and is not a record of any meeting or committee decision. Review: internal desk review, November 2026 · Funding: none · Partners: none · Data: published secondary sources · Corrections: none to date. Not peer-reviewed.

Summary

For millions of young Afghans, the normal road from secondary school to university or skilled work is closed or broken. Online and distance learning are often presented as the answer. The evidence says something more careful: remote learning can work, but mainly when it is low-cost, close to the learner, built around regular human contact and linked to a recognised next step. A phone call from a tutor can matter more than an expensive platform. This brief sets out what is known and what AYP and its partners can do.

The size of the gap is now well documented. UNESCO estimated in August 2026 that about 2.4 million Afghan girls are deprived of secondary education (UNESCO, 2026). A UNICEF Innocenti issue brief, published in April 2026, puts the number of girls aged 7 to 18 who were out of school in 2024 at 3.8 million, about 61% of that age group. It estimates that about one million girls have so far been directly affected by restrictions on secondary education, that around 250,000 more are added each year, and that more than two million will be affected by 2030 (UNICEF Innocenti, 2026). Among young women, 78% are not in education, employment or training (UN Women, 2025).

Boys and young men are not untouched. Many leave school early to earn, many return from Iran and Pakistan with interrupted schooling, and the loss of women teachers and health workers will affect every community. UNICEF estimates that up to 20,000 teachers and 5,400 health workers could be lost by 2030 if current restrictions continue (UNICEF Innocenti, 2026).

Key facts

Girls out of secondary school: about 2.4 million (UNESCO, 2026).
Girls aged 7 to 18 out of school in 2024: 3.8 million, about 61% (UNICEF Innocenti, 2026).
Young women not in education, employment or training: 78%, nearly four times the rate for young men (UN Women, 2025).
Economic cost: at least US$84 million a year, about 0.5% of 2023 GDP, from restrictions on girls’ education and women’s work, under cautious assumptions; possibly up to about 1% of GDP a year (UNICEF Innocenti, 2026).
Connectivity: about 11.3 million internet users, or 25.5% of the population, in October 2025; about 22.4 million cellular mobile connections at the end of 2025 (DataReportal, 2025). Other surveys give lower internet access figures, which reflects differences between counting connections and counting households.
Fragile access: a nationwide connectivity shutdown of about 48 hours began on 29 September 2025. UN human rights experts noted that women and girls are hit hardest by such disruptions because many depend on online spaces for education, work and business (UN human rights experts, 2025).

What the evidence on distance and remote learning shows

Distance matters, especially for girls. A randomised study of village-based schools in Afghanistan found that opening a school in the village raised formal enrolment by 42 percentage points, and raised girls’ enrolment by 16.8 points more than boys’. Each additional mile to school reduced girls’ enrolment by 19 percentage points and boys’ by 13 (Burde and Linden, 2013). The lesson travels well beyond village schools: the closer learning is to home, the more girls take part.

Low-tech, human contact works better than technology alone. During COVID-19 school closures in Botswana, a randomised trial compared text messages alone with text messages plus short weekly phone calls from a tutor. Messages alone produced no significant learning gains. Messages combined with calls improved numeracy by about 0.12 standard deviations and reduced innumeracy by 31%, at a cost of about US$19 per child (Angrist, Bergman and Matsheng, 2022). The model, a phone and a person who calls, fits contexts with weak internet far better than video platforms do.

Accredited online degrees are reachable for some. The tuition-free University of the People reported in August 2024 that more than 3,100 Afghan women were studying with it and more than 26,000 had applied since August 2021 (University of the People, 2024). This shows real demand. It also shows the limits: such programmes need English, a device, regular internet and a quiet place to study, which most young Afghans, women or men, do not have.

What it means for young people

For a young person who finished, or almost finished, secondary school, three questions decide whether learning continues: Can I reach it from home? Will someone guide me? Will the result be recognised? Online learning that answers only the first question tends to fail quietly, with high drop-out and no record of what was learned.

There is also a safety question. Learners inside the country, and their families, may face risks if their study becomes visible in the wrong way. Programmes must protect identities, collect as little personal data as possible and never publish learners’ faces or names without informed consent.

Practical options for AYP and partners

Build “phone plus person” support into every course. AYP courses are text-based and free. Adding a light layer of human contact, a weekly message or short call from a volunteer mentor, is the feature the evidence most supports. AYP’s mentorship network, including mentors in the diaspora, is well placed to provide it.
Design for low bandwidth. Text, audio and downloadable lessons that work offline reach more people than video. Courses should keep working during connectivity cuts, with materials that can be saved in advance.
Encourage small, local study circles where safe. Small groups that meet close to home, or study together by phone, can provide the closeness that the Afghan village-schools evidence shows matters, especially for girls.
Link learning to a recognised next step. AYP’s School-to-University pathway can map each course to a next step: an accredited online programme, an international exam, a scholarship application or a skilled trade. AYP course certificates are course certificates, not degrees, and should always be described honestly.
Measure learning, not only enrolment. Short assessments at the start and end of a course show whether people are learning. Results should be shared in aggregate only.
For donors and universities: fund connectivity, devices and modest stipends for tutors; offer places, credit recognition and English-language preparation for Afghan learners; and support independent evaluation of what works.

Limitations

There is little rigorous evidence on online learning inside Afghanistan itself. The Botswana trial and the Afghan village-schools study come from different settings and periods, so their results suggest design principles rather than predict effects. Figures on internet access vary by source and method.

References

Angrist, N., Bergman, P. and Matsheng, M. (2022). Experimental evidence on learning using low-tech when school is out. Nature Human Behaviour, 6(7), 941–950. doi.org
Burde, D. and Linden, L. (2013). Bringing Education to Afghan Girls: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Village-Based Schools. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(3), 27–40. Summary by J-PAL. povertyactionlab.org
DataReportal – Kemp, S. (2025). Digital 2026: Afghanistan. Kepios, 8 November 2025. datareportal.com
UN human rights experts (2025). Statement on internet and social media restrictions in Afghanistan, 10 October 2025, as reported by The National. thenationalnews.com
UNESCO (2026). Statement on girls’ education in Afghanistan, August 2026, as reported by Al Jazeera, 11 August 2026. aljazeera.com
UNICEF Innocenti – Otchere, F. and Chilombo, N. (2026). The Costs of Inaction on Girls’ Education and Women’s Labour Force Participation in Afghanistan. Issue brief, April 2026. unicef.org
UN Women (2025). Nearly eight out of 10 young Afghan women are excluded from education, jobs, and training (Afghanistan Gender Index 2024), 17 June 2025. unwomen.org
University of the People (2024). From veils to virtual classrooms: thousands of Afghan women study online. Press release, 15 August 2024. prnewswire.com

Afghanistan Youth Parliament (AYP) – Think Tank Center
AYP Committee Brief 2026/02 – November 2026
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