Our future

2024 and beyond

The return of the Taliban changed so many things, but what hasn’t changed – and what can never change – is our commitment to educating Afghan girls.

The need for SOLA, quite simply, is more acute than it’s ever been.

In Kabul, we expanded by adding a new class of 6th grade girls annually. We continue to do so in Rwanda. We draw our new students from the Afghan diaspora, particularly those girls forced into exile by the Taliban’s return, many of whom have no opportunity to receive an education in their countries of residence.

Rwanda, a nation that has extended us such a warm welcome, is where we are educating these girls who will grow to become Afghanistan's new generation of female leaders. As we set down roots here, we have not lost sight of our intention to one day return to Kabul and complete our construction of a new campus in the heart of the city, with the aspiration of operating our Rwandan and Afghan facilities in tandem.

We recognize, however, that the need for quality education is far larger than what we can ever meet on a physical campus — a reality shown in stark relief in our 2023 and 2024 admissions numbers. This is why we’ve been actively working on innovating ways to reach girls in Afghanistan and around the world.

If these girls can’t come to SOLA, we will find opportunities to bring SOLA to them, including digitally: in March 2024, we launched our online academy SOLAx, which brings app-based education to Afghan girls worldwide. As SOLAx came online, we opened our 2024 admissions season which yielded the most applications in our school’s history.

We are working to build a global network of sisterhood, a network of compassionate and confident young Afghan women who will be well-prepared to return to Afghanistan and rebuild their homeland.

We hope you will join us, and our students, at this momentous time in our history.