Our Underground School

To Serve Female Students, Our School Goes Underground

A few years ago, in November 2017, publications everywhere were spreading the news that Afghanistan’s Girl Robotics Team won the Entrepreneur Challenge at Europe’s largest robotics festival. This was one of many examples of Afghan women showing the world what they could do when given an education and an opportunity.

Today, women and girls in Afghanistan have been barred from attending school due to their gender. This is an abomination. The world should not ignore this national assault on women. We at Applied Ethics have responded with the safest approach possible to meet the educational needs of our sisters in Afghanistan by creating an “underground school.” Here is the story.

Background

For over a decade, our nonprofit had sought to advance peace through education through our online language school, Pax Populi Academy. Then following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Applied Ethics suspended its educational programs offered in Afghanistan through our Pax Populi people-to-people peacebuilding program. Before long, the Taliban prohibited all women and girls from getting a formal education beyond the 6^th grade. Our organizational connections with Afghanistan run too deep to permit us to sit passively on the sidelines. After months of preparation and under tight security, in October 2023, we launched an “underground” version of our online school, Pax Populi Academy. 

Our students are gaining international recognition
Outside organizations and educational institutions have taken note of the caliber of our students. Currently, two Pax Populi Academy students have received full scholarships, including transportation and living expenses, to attend elite private schools. Both are now thriving in their new schools because of the rigorous education they received in our academy. As will be discussed in detail later, a few of our students have been accepted to attend a highly prestigious international university. (See this announcement.)

Our Motivation

For Pax Populi, our educational programs focused on teaching English to Afghan students to encourage cross-cultural understanding and to help these students avail themselves of the educational, economic, and cultural benefits afforded through fluency in English. Conditions in Afghanistan have changed. It is insufficient to teach Afghan women English when they have been deprived of an education in all other subjects. We felt ethically compelled to try to step into the gap by offering a broad educational curriculum in which English is but one element.

The People in People-to-People Peacebuilding

Pax Populi is a people-to-people peacebuilding program in which people from around the world volunteer their services to those in conflict zones to contribute to developing peaceful, flourishing societies. In creating our underground school, our model has changed. Afghans are in leading roles in responding to the conflict in their midst. We continue to welcome international volunteers, but our school depends largely on Afghans helping Afghans. They are the people in “people-to-people peacebuilding.” Their commitment confirms the value our school has to them.

The Current State of Non-Sanctioned Schools for Girls in Afghanistan and AE/Pax Populi’s Commitment to Security

Pax Populi is not the only organization offering schooling for girls and women in Afghanistan. Despite Afghanistan’s ongoing ban on female education, according to news reports, there are likely dozens or more non-sanctioned female educational initiatives currently active in the country. These programs are administered both by Afghan and international organizations; some offer in-person classes, while others operate online. There may be other underground schools besides ours, but there is little information on such initiatives. We are pleased that other organizations are standing up for women in Afghanistan. However, nothing is certain with a regime operating outside the bounds of internationally recognized legal standards. Their apparent tolerance of independent schools could disappear whenever and wherever.

At Pax Populi, we have chosen a path of maximum security. We acknowledge that our school has been created, and we share some information on its features, but we will reveal nothing that could put our students and their families at risk. Our top concern is the security of students, teachers, and administrators in Afghanistan. We acknowledge that our school exists, but beyond that, we are minimizing the risks to school members by adhering to strict — even extreme — measures to secure the confidentiality of information of anyone in Afghanistan associated with our school.

Our School

What follows are some of the significant general characteristics of our school.

The Role of Parents

Before a student can enroll in Springtime Academy, we provide a detailed description of our program and the security precautions required for participation. Parents must confirm that they support having their daughter attend our school and agree that members of the student’s household will all maintain the confidentiality of our school. No student enters our school in isolation. Behind every student is a family that recognizes the importance of education for all.

The Practical and Personal Goals of the Academy

Our academy aims to meet three practical life goals:

• Meeting Education Standards for High School: We have designed our school to meet international standards for high school.
• University or Workforce Ready: Graduates of our school will have the educational qualifications to attend college, university, or trade school. Alternatively, our graduates should have the education needed to participate in the contemporary workforce in local, international, or online companies.
• Civic Engagement: Social conditions permitting, graduates of our school will have an educational foundation that equips them for active engagement in the civic life of their community and country. When the day comes that Afghanistan is ready to avail itself of the immense capacities of its women, our students should be among those well-prepared to contribute to rebuilding the country.

A Mission to Affirm the Dignity and Support the Wellbeing of Our Students

While the ruling regime embodies a culture based on the abuses and denigration of women and girls, our school is built on the foundational recognition of the intrinsic value and dignity of all people, and girls and women in particular. Our school’s mission is to deliver on this principle through education. And yet, according to numerous reports, the current assault on the rights of women and girls is having a devastating toll on their mental health. Our academy has been established to create a caring learning community that affirms the value of our students and supports their well-being. We offer social activities and extracurriculars, incorporate group projects into our curriculum, and are developing mental health support activities for our students. In this sense, our academy is more than a school; it is an educational refuge where young women can find community beyond the oppressive solitude of home confinement.

A Pilot Program and Our Expansion

After months of preparation, our academy launched a pilot program for the 2023-2024 academic year in October 2023. We began with a small cohort of ten students and soon thereafter increased the group to 25 students mostly between the ages of 17 and 19 years of age. During this pilot phase, we tested our administrative systems, developed our curriculum and pedagogical methods, and assessed the students’ experiences. The insights from this pilot period enabled us to expand our student body and improve our programs.

We received more than 500 applications for our 2024-25 academic year, based on which we expanded our school to serve more than 60 students in grades 8 through 12.

During this period, we strengthened our academic curriculum by expanding our course offerings to include classes like pre-calculus, economics, and philosophy. We also put greater emphasis on building the Pax Populi Academy culture and community spirit by introducing clubs for special interests like art, business, and wellness.

We have expanded our school again for the 2025-26 academic year. We received more than 1,500 applications and currently have over 110 students enrolled in grades 7 through 12. Our students are active members of our school community, serving in leadership positions as instructors, club leaders, and teaching assistants.

Our Current Curriculum

In developing our curriculum, our aim has been to meet international standards for middle and high school students while also fulfilling local educational expectations for country-specific courses such as history. Our curriculum comprises the following courses:

• English from beginner to advanced
• Writing, poetry, and literature
• Conversational English
• Mathematics from pre-algebra to calculus with tutoring support
• Biology, chemistry, physics, and computer programming
• World History and Afghanistan History
• Philosophy and economics

Academic Calendar and Schedule

Students usually attend 10-15 hours of online classes every week. These meetings our supplemented with homework, exams and quizzes, group projects, videos, and other activities that enrich learning.

Our current school year runs from August to June. We close for Ramadan and Eid holidays so our students can focus on observing these holidays with their families and loved ones.

Our School Faculty

Here is the essential profile of our current group of teachers.

• Our school staff consists of more than 30 volunteer teachers and tutors.
• Around two-thirds of our volunteers are Afghans.
• Our teachers are spread across four continents and bring diverse perspectives to our school community.