Table 4 Characteristics and operational... | Emerald Publishing

Table 4

Characteristics and operational frameworks of online and underground schools

No	School names	Synchronous (S)/asynchronous (AS)	School fee	Teachers' salaries	Evaluation methods	Certification	Subjects Taught
1	OSS1	Online	free	Did not disclose	Mid-term, final	Yes	School subjects, photography, philosophy, critical thinking, storytelling, astronomy (no history subject)
2	OSS2	Zoom, Google Classroom, and online videos	free	volunteers	Yes	Not yet	All school curricula
3	OSS3	Zoom	free	Teacher-students (volunteer)	Yes	Yes	School subjects, STEM subjects, Kankor exam preparation, art gallery, poetry classes, book club, applied arts, ESL
4	OSS4	Online (Signal and Zoom)	free	50 cents per tutoring hour	Quizzes	No	school subjects, the holy Quran, life skills, American History, Arabic, computer, and suicide prevention services
5	OSS5	(S), online, Zoom meetings, Google Classroom	free	Volunteer (internet The fee is paid	Just class quizzes s	No	All school subjects except Physics and geometry, Italian and Turkish languages, IELTS & TOEFL preparation
6	OSS6	Offline app	free	yes	Yes: mid-term, final	Yes	STEM subjects, biophysics, graphic design, web development, coding, menstrual hygiene, journalism, freelancing
7	OSS7	(AS) YouTube videos	free	Paid for creating content	No	No	school subjects, English, computers, and child-raising
8	OSS8	(S) Zoom	Outside Afghanistan (50 $/month); inside Afghanistan (500 Afg/month)	Did not disclose	Yes	Yes	school subjects, Islamic studies for children outside the country, graphic design, web development, citizenship interviews, and driving license preparation classes
9	OSS9	Online school (synchronous & asynchronous)	free	yes	Mid-term and final exam	Yes, Canadian school credentials	All subjects in grades 7–9 (Afghanistan curriculum) and 10–12 subjects taught based on (Canadian curriculum); basic literacy, life skills, virtual library, seminars
10	OSS2	Online	free	volunteer	Mid-term and online	No	English language, human rights, biology, chemistry, language learning
11	USS1	underground school	free	Did not disclose	Mid-term, final	Yes	Math, English, photography, philosophy, critical thinking, storytelling, astronomy
12	USS2	Underground school	free	yes	mid-term, final	Yes	e-learning, STEM subjects, diploma programs, short courses, menstrual hygiene
13	USS3	Underground school	free	yes	Yes, final	yes	Mathematics, Holy Quran, Book club, biology, chemistry, English language, course for widows and other literacy courses
14	USS4	Underground courses	free	Yes, but did not disclose	Yes	Yes	IT, coding classes, English, tailoring, literacy courses, women empowerment course
Overall		Despite their differences, online and underground schools share the same mission: providing mostly free or low-cost education, often without formal recognition, while adapting their curriculum and teaching methods to students' needs and available resources

No	School names	Synchronous (S)/asynchronous (AS)	School fee	Teachers' salaries	Evaluation methods	Certification	SubjectsTaught
1	OSS1	Online	free	Did not disclose	Mid-term, final	Yes	School subjects, photography, philosophy, critical thinking, storytelling, astronomy (no history subject)
2	OSS2	Zoom, Google Classroom, and online videos	free	volunteers	Yes	Not yet	All school curricula
3	OSS3	Zoom	free	Teacher-students (volunteer)	Yes	Yes	School subjects, STEM subjects, Kankor exam preparation, art gallery, poetry classes, book club, applied arts, ESL
4	OSS4	Online (Signal and Zoom)	free	50 cents per tutoring hour	Quizzes	No	school subjects, the holy Quran, life skills, American History, Arabic, computer, and suicide prevention services
5	OSS5	(S), online, Zoom meetings, Google Classroom	free	Volunteer (internetThe fee is paid	Just class quizzes s	No	All school subjects except Physics and geometry, Italian and Turkish languages, IELTS & TOEFL preparation
6	OSS6	Offline app	free	yes	Yes: mid-term, final	Yes	STEM subjects, biophysics, graphic design, web development, coding, menstrual hygiene, journalism, freelancing
7	OSS7	(AS) YouTube videos	free	Paid for creating content	No	No	school subjects, English, computers, and child-raising
8	OSS8	(S) Zoom	Outside Afghanistan (50 $/month); inside Afghanistan (500Afg/month)	Did not disclose	Yes	Yes	school subjects, Islamic studies for children outside the country, graphic design, web development, citizenship interviews, and driving license preparation classes
9	OSS9	Online school (synchronous & asynchronous)	free	yes	Mid-term and final exam	Yes, Canadian school credentials	All subjects in grades 7–9 (Afghanistan curriculum) and 10–12 subjects taught based on (Canadian curriculum); basic literacy, life skills, virtual library, seminars
10	OSS2	Online	free	volunteer	Mid-term and online	No	English language, human rights, biology, chemistry, language learning
11	USS1	underground school	free	Did not disclose	Mid-term, final	Yes	Math, English, photography, philosophy, critical thinking, storytelling, astronomy
12	USS2	Underground school	free	yes	mid-term, final	Yes	e-learning, STEM subjects, diploma programs, short courses, menstrual hygiene
13	USS3	Underground school	free	yes	Yes, final	yes	Mathematics, Holy Quran, Book club, biology, chemistry, English language, course for widows and other literacy courses
14	USS4	Underground courses	free	Yes, but did not disclose	Yes	Yes	IT, coding classes, English, tailoring, literacy courses, women empowerment course
Overall		Despite their differences, online and underground schools share the same mission: providing mostly free or low-cost education, often without formal recognition, while adapting their curriculum and teaching methods to students' needs and available resources