(Transcript from World News Radio)
Aid groups say increasing numbers of children have returned to school in Afghanistan over the last decade, largely as a result of assistance from the international community.
And for girls particularly, they say the improvements - in part as a result of Australian aid - have been significant.
However, as Santilla Chingaipe reports, there are gains yet to be made in providing education to all students.
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That's the sound of a bell at a school in the capital, Kabul.
Just ten years ago, that sound was not familiar to many children during the Taliban's rule.
Girls especially were deprived of a full education.
But since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, much of that has changed.
With help from the international community, Afghanistan has been able to rebuild its education sector.
New schools have gone up, teachers have been trained, and girls once denied their right to education, can now learn alongside boys.
Mohammad Tammim is the father of a schoolgirl.
Along with many other dads across Afghanistan, he has had to defend his daughter's right to learn.
"The security is now better than before, so we are trying to admit, especially the girls, because 55 per cent of our population is girls so we need to educate them. Education is more important, especially for girls. If we want to bring up the capacity of this country, we need to bring up the girls."
According to the United Nations children agency, during Taliban rule, fewer than a million children were attending school.
UNICEF says today, that figure sits at eight million children.
Australian Christina Northey heads Care Australia in Afghanistan.
Ms Northey says Australia has played a significant role in improving girls' education in Afghanistan.
"Australian aid is having a really significant impact in education. With the support of the Australian government and Australian people, Care Australia has educated over 11,000 primary school students and 9,000 of those students are girls over the past four years. Many of these students come from poor and quite remote communities where there are no formal schools."
Amnesty International's Ming Yu agrees.
"The Australian government and the Australian people have been very supportive of women's rights in Afghanistan for many years. And certainly when the Australian government was on the UN Security Council in 2013-14, there were some great intiatives there from the Australian government. So for us, from Amnesty International, we would encourage the Australian government to continue taking a leadership role on a global stage and making sure that in the way that we program our aid, the way that we provide diplomatic support, that the Australian government continues to prioritise women's rights. And make sure that women's rights are not thrown out the window at the expense of, for example, peace negotiations with the Taliban."
But despite the improvements, aid groups say there are still many challenges.
The Taliban still has a presence in the south and east of the country, and the security situation remains unstable.
Christina Northey from Care Australia says despite the hurdles, they've been able to find innovative ways around that.
She says one of those is to create classrooms within communities, so children don't have to travel far, or fear for their safety, to get an education.
"Some of our teachers and our teacher trainers often have to travel by donkey to reach some of these villages, and the schools themselves are learning environments. They're often hosted within the family home, and that way often the parents will feel more comfortable about sending their daughters to attend in a neighbour's house rather than having their daughters walk several kilometres walk to the nearest formal school."
