Eager to learn and relearn.

• Author: Waldman, Amy
• Position: International - After the lunacy of the Taliban, Afghan women rush to catch up with education - Brief Article

Shafiqa Abdulwaquil stares at the division problem and thinks, hard. Math had once come easily to her, and this solution should have, too. But she was 12 when the Taliban banned girls from school. Now she is 17.

Across Afghanistan, tens of thousands of girls are shaking off cobwebs and bending their heads to shared, worn books. At the Ariana Afghan High School in Kabul, 500 girls are already in class, with another 200 to ' 300 waiting to register and start. More arrive every day.

Crammed four to a desk, the girls--many now women--giggle with excitement. But the task is daunting. There is no way to tell...