Shabana Basij-Rasikh has established a permanent home for the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA) within Rwanda. This facility allows 122 students to continue their education away from the Taliban's restrictive regime.
A Secret Campus for 122 Students in Rwanda
The School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA) has transitioned from temporary housing to a permanent campus in Rwanda, according to the report. Founder Shabana Basij-Rasikh established this secure facility to provide a stable home for 122 students who were forced to flee Kabul. To protect the students and faculty from potential threaats, the location of the Rwanda campus is kept strictly confidential and is not visible from outside the compound, serving as a "home in exile" for those displaced by political violence.
The 2021 Ban on Education Beyond Sixth Grade
This relocation follows the August 2021 withdrawal of U.S . troops and the subsequent return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan. As reported by the source, the Taliban implemented a strict ban on girls attending school beyond the sixth grade, a restriction that remains in effect. While a Taliban spokesperson recently claimed that 10 million students—roughly 25 percent of the population—are currently enrolled in Afghan educational institutions, this figure obscures the systemic exclusion of females from secondary and higher education.
The 99 Percent Rejection Rate and the Demand for SOLA
The move to Rwanda was not immediate; when Kabul fell in August 2021, a group of 250 people, including students,faculty, and 100 recent graduates, relocated to the East African nation. For a period, the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA) operated out of a converted hotel before the permanent campus was completed.. Despite this growth, the institution is forced to reject more than 99 percent of its annual applicants, illustrating a massive deficit in available safe spaces for Afghan female scholars.
How SOLAx Uses WhatsApp to Reach Trapped Students
To address this gap, Shabana Basij-Rasikh and her husband, Mati Amin, developed SOLAx, a digital learning platform designed for the "technological realities" of Afghanistan. SOLAx delivers the Afghan school curriculum for grades 6 through 12 via WhatsApp, a choice driven by the fact that many Afghan girls must borrow smartphones from fathers or brothers. The platform includes critical security features such as PIN-protected access and the ability to quickly delete chats to avoid detection. Lessons for earlier grades are taught in the official languages of Dari and Pashto, while advanced courses are delivered entirely in English.
The Specifics of Rwanda's Invitation and Long-term Funding
While the report details the school's physical and digital expansion, several details regarding the partnership with the Rwandan government remain unclear. The source mentions an "encouraging invitation" from Rwanda to relocate,but the specific legal terms of this agreement and the long-term funding model for the permanent campus are not disclosed. Furthermore, the report does not specify the total number of girls currently utilizing the SOLAx WhatsApp platform, leaving the actual scale of the digital reach unverified.
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