She was told to marry in a country which bans girls' education. So she got in a taxi and fled

She was told to marry in a country which bans girls' education. So she got in a taxi and fled Yogita Limaye South Asia and Afghanistan correspondent, in Kabul Alia - whose name we have changed for her safety - travelled hundreds of miles from her village to Kabul to escape marriage. The journey by taxi last year with her female cousin - covered from head to toe, only their eyes visible, as the rules decree - was an exceptional thing to do, and risky in Afghanistan, where at any moment they might

But Alia, who is 19, and her cousin weren't stopped at any Taliban checkpoints, and made it to the capital. "I made up an excuse to my family saying I was coming here to meet my friends and former classmates. The actual reason is that if I stayed in Daykundi, I would be forced to get married." Instead, she arrived in Kabul with a plan: she enrolled in an English language course. These short-term, narrowly-focused private courses - available only to those who can afford them - are, along with madrasas which focus on religious education, the only options for girls to learn past primary school in Afghanistan. But neither are close to being a substitute for formal schooling. It has now been almost five years since the Taliban stopped girls over 12 going to school, with various reasons given to explain why the ban is still in place. Years in which girls like Alia have grown up without the education they wanted and needed. Years in which the path to a career has been effectively shut off, narrowing their options until millions of girls in Afghanistan have been left with just one choice: marriage. These boys are attending a madrasa, or religious school. Some religious education is available to girls Alia's story is unusual, not just for her bravery. But she also comes from a family which has the funds to pursue the few opportunities available to young women - a rarity in a country where three in four people cannot meet their basic needs, according to the United Nations. It's not that Alia's family do not want her to study – they accepted she wanted to stay in Kabul, and are funding her English course even now - but even they are constrained by the realities of life in Afghanistan.

Key points

• But Alia, who is 19, and her cousin weren't stopped at any Taliban checkpoints, and made it to the capital.
• "I made up an excuse to my family saying I was coming here to meet my friends and former classmates.
• The actual reason is that if I stayed in Daykundi, I would be forced to get married." Instead, she arrived in Kabul with a plan: she enrolled in an English language course.
• These short-term, narrowly-focused private courses - available only to those who can afford them - are, along with madrasas which focus on religious education, the only options for girls to learn p…
• But neither are close to being a substitute for formal schooling.