FutureLearn Commemorates Two Years Of Its Higher Education Initiative For Women And Girls In Afghanistan
As the world observes Human Rights Day on 10 December, FutureLearn, the UK’s leading platform for online learning, commemorates two years of its award-winning initiative which provides free education for women and girls in Afghanistan.
Since December 2022, FutureLearn has offered free access to over 1200 courses from leading institutions for women and girls in Afghanistan, in response to the Taliban’s ban on women’s higher education. Over 44,000 learners have enrolled over the last two years with English language courses as Basic English 1: Elementary, Basic English 2: Pre-Intermediate and English Pronunciation in a Global World being amongst the most popular courses. Learners were also interested in teaching, project management, tech and AI, healthcare and medicine, HR, marketing, business and psychology courses.
With the theme of Human Rights Day 2024, being ‘Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now’ and reports earlier in the year of a number of Afghan students travelling to other countries to further their education, FutureLearn reaffirms its commitment to championing change by providing free subscriptions to the platform for all Afghan women.
Recently, the initiative won Best ESG Campaign Or Case Study To Reduce Inequality at The ESG & Sustainability Awards 2024, where judges commented on the initiative, saying: “This is how you utilise your expertise and business model to achieve social impact. Simply phenomenal.”
“This Human Rights Day, we’ll continue to act upon our belief that education should be affordable and accessible to all.” says Ian Howell, FutureLearn Managing Director. “We understand, perhaps better than anyone, that education has the potential to transform and improve lives. That’s why we’ll remain dedicated to ensuring that Afghan women and girls have access to education and the tools to learn on their own terms.”
If you are a woman based in Afghanistan and would like more information about free subscriptions, please visit our Help Centre.
