Scholarships for At-risk Youth in Afghanistan

Thank you for your support to “Scholarships for At-risk Youth in Afghanistan”.

The academic year started in March 2025. This year, we are providing 181 scholarships (142 girls and 39 boys) in our various underground schools and regular schools in multiple provinces in Afghanistan. With this year’s tally, we have provided 1381 scholarships (891 girls, 490 boys) for at-risk youth, mostly girls, in the marginalized and persecuted Hazara communities in Afghanistan since the inception of the program in 2016. This update is for our male students and we will separately provide an update for girls’ education via our “Support Girls’ Education in Afghanistan” soon.

The 39 boys continue their education in two of our regular schools in two different provinces. Our schools have become local educational institutions over the years, and our scholarship funds provided to the schools cover tuition and stationary costs for the students and in turn used as salary for teachers and other operational expenses of the schools. In other words, we provide the funds to the schools, and the schools identify qualified students and then covers their tuition, stationary and in some cases uniform costs. As such, our philosophy is to empower the local educators on the ground to successfully run their programs. 

We have also heard from some of our students. For their safety, we have changed their names. We have made minor edits for length and clarity.

Ali:

Ali was in grade two when he started in one of our schools. The family covered his tuition fees for for one month, but his family wasn’t able to continue, so the principal of school supported him during that year. The next year, Bamyan Foundation started sponsoring him and he began to make steady progress in his studies. 

Ali is a hardworking student, and takes his studies seriously. At the very beginning, he didn’t seem to be a keen student, but he has developed academic curiosity and interest in various subjects. Over the years, he has become the holder of third, second and first position in grades five, six and seven. Ali is in grade seven this year and he is doing great academically. Ali is thankful to his teachers and Bamyan Foundation for the opportunity. Ali is committed to his goal of graduating high school and continue his education beyond grade 12. 

Hasan: 

Hasan is in grade nine. Born into poverty and orphaned at a young age, Hasan has faced extreme hardship from early on. After his father passed away, Hasan moved to live with his uncle and his family.

At age seven, Hasan started School (not a Bamyan-supported school). However, the school lacked the resources to provide quality education. “On one hand, poverty was threatening my life; on the other, the school lacked the standard I hoped for,” Hasan recalls. Driven by a deep desire to learn and become an educated person, he and his uncle searched for a better alternative. That’s when they found one of Bamyan-supported schools that happened to be in their district.

Hasan started from grade five, supported by the Bamyan Foundation. For the first time, he felt he was in the right place—surrounded by dedicated teachers and a quality learning environment. However, by grade seven, he lost his sponsorship due to lower academic performance, as the foundation had limited capacity to continue supporting all students.

This became a turning point in his life. Though he was allowed to continue studying without fees, Hasan felt the pressure of the school’s financial limitations. Determined to earn back his scholarship, he studied hard—and his efforts paid off. In grade eight, he ranked third in his class, and as a result, he was reinstated as a sponsored student by Bamyan Foundation.

Reflecting on that difficult year, Hasan says, “I realized my mistake in not working hard enough. But I didn’t lose hope. I was determined not to disappoint myself.” Today, he is more motivated than ever. With a clear goal of becoming an engineer, Hasan is focusing especially on mathematics and other key subjects, committed to building a brighter future for himself and his community.

Thank you for your continued support.

Timor + the Bamyan Foundation Team

Links:

• Bamyan's Scholarship program

Thank you for your generous support to Scholarships for At-risk Youth in Afghanistan.

We supported a total of 156 students (127 girls and 29 boys) in various regular schools and underground schools in Afghanistan in the academic year 2024. Our schools are located in the marginalized and persecuted Hazara communities in Afghanistan. For safety reasons, we do not disclose the names of our schools, teachers and students.

This report provides an update on the 29 boys while we will provide separate update for girl students via our other project Support Girls’ Education in Afghanistan.

We have received the final reports for the year and pleased to inform you that 155 students have passed their final exams. All of the girls and 28 boys successfully passed their final exams. This is an amazing result and demonstrates our teachers and students’ hard work and dedication to education and the students’ unwavering desire to successfully complete each grade until they graduate high school. One of the boys was not able to attend the finals due to poor health and the school has made a special arrangement for him to retake the exams before the start of the new academic year. We wish him a speedy recovery.

While girls above grade 6 remain banned from education, boys can go to school in Afghanistan. However, the quality of education in schools across the country have deteriorated significantly since the collapse of the Afghan government. Many regular schools have been transitioned into Madrassas, where they have replaced modern education with Islamic studies in accordance with a strict version of Sunni Islam practiced by the Taliban.

In Hazara areas of Afghanistan, families, educators and community leaders place significant emphasis on modern education. In collaboration with the Hazara diaspora in the US, Europe and Australia, the community has created underground schools for girls, and support boys in regular schools in order to keep the hopes and dreams of the youth alive.

The new academic year is beginning in late March, and we hope that you continue supporting this project to help the youth have access to education in Afghanistan in this difficult time.

Thank you,

Timor + the Bamyan Foundation Team

Links:

• Bamyan Foundation's Scholarship Report
• Bamyan's education program and the enormous challenges