One learner, one laptop, one mentor: Educating girls in Afghanistan

When the Alekain Foundation launched the Claim Your Diploma Initiative in November 2024, they received 831 applications within two weeks. These applicants came from across 22 provinces and six ethnic groups in Afghanistan—a powerful testament to hope, resilience, and an unquenchable thirst for education.In this episode, we'll take you inside a journey of transformation that started over a year ago as a quest to provide an accredited, asynchronous, and self-paced high school education to young women and girls in Afghanistan. The program is funded by the Alekain Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in the State of Arizona, offered by Smart Schools International, an accredited private high school that provides high-quality academic programs and curriculum paired with the flexibility and support students outside the U.S. need to be successful, and complemented by group therapy education sessions to help students process stress, strengthen emotional well-being, and build the resilience to keep growing.Today, the program supports 29 bright, resilient girls in its inaugural cohort, representing five ethnic groups and nine provinces. Through this initiative, Alekain provides no-cost secondary school classes between grades 9 and 12, culminating in an internationally accredited high school diploma that opens the way for higher education. The program follows a fully asynchronous model, allowing students to complete courses and milestones at their own pace, based on their availability. Each student is paired with a female American college student who provides academic, personal, and psychological support through a robust peer mentorship program. And because access to technology is a significant hurdle, the Foundation provides each girl with a laptop and a monthly internet plan.But the support goes deeper than academics and technology. Parents are engaged from the outset—they attend interviews to express consent and elaborate on their hopes and dreams for their daughters, then sign a parental agreement during onboarding. English as a Second Language courses are offered to ensure inclusion of students who don't initially qualify, facilitating their potential entry in future admissions cycles. In June 2025, the Foundation launched mental health support through two professionals who provide group therapy education to students, along with mentorship and training for peer mentors. This focus on mental and emotional well-being is a necessary innovation that ensures students achieve academic success and meet program milestones. After graduation, the Foundation intends to offer advising and assistance with college admissions to help students pursue higher education abroad.The Foundation is committed to supporting 30 students annually between 2026 and 2029. And the need is urgent: for over four years now, nearly 4 million girls have been barred from secondary schools in Afghanistan, with the number denied access to higher education remaining unknown. This isn't a COVID-like loss of learning—it's a denial of basic human rights and a crisis for the future of an entire generation.The theory of change driving this work is simple yet critical. When girls can access secondary education, they can build better, more stable, and resilient futures for themselves, their families, and societies. They are less likely to marry young, more likely to lead healthy and productive lives, they earn higher incomes, and they can make better decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities.In today's episode, you'll hear how this initiative is working to turn that theory into reality—one laptop, one mentor, one diploma at a time.More about our guests belowNasir KaihanNasir Kaihan is the founder and president of the Alekain Foundation. He is a Ph.D. student in Education Policy and Evaluation at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University, where he also serves as an Assistant of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning for the Education for Humanity Initiative. He graduated with a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University and was a distinguished Fulbright program fellow in 2018.Nasir has over eight years of experience working in programming, program reviews, monitoring and evaluation, and policymaking focused on migrants, IDPs, returnees, and host communities with UNESCO; advancement in higher education with the American University of Afghanistan and International University partnerships with USAID, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Mexico. His career and research interests lie in the access, success, retention, and graduation of refugee and bilingual learners, girls, and other disadvantaged segments of society. Nasir has led, attended, and presented at more than ten conferences and workshops in Afghanistan and internationally.Laura PayneAt Smart Schools International, academic manager Laura Payne transforms the lives of ...