Learning in the Impossible | Haroon Azizi | TEDxDarulaman

Quick Overview

Haroon Azizi advocates for integrating technology and education in Afghanistan by founding Hadaf.af, an organization that provides free technical and educational resources to Afghans both inside and outside the country, challenging the local educational system's reliance on rote memorization and lack of practical skills.

Key Points: The speaker, Haroon Azizi, founded Hadaf.af to address the lack of practical skills in the Afghan educational system, which historically focused on rote memorization (0:09, 0:55, 2:24). Azizi notes that social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are heavily filtered in Afghanistan, highlighting the need for alternative information sources (0:15, 0:28). He recounts that in his 12 years of schooling, he only encountered one teacher who taught with genuine passion (2:32). Hadaf.af was established to teach Afghans everywhere the necessary skills for the 21st century, including programming, UI/UX design, and database management (3:02). The organization successfully provided free education and showcased projects to potential employers, securing internships for participants (4:38). Azizi poses a challenge to the audience: Are they ready to redefine the impossible in Afghanistan by combining technology and education? (5:03).

Context: Haroon Azizi delivers a TEDx talk at TEDxDarulaman in Kabul, Afghanistan (October 2025), focusing on the critical need to modernize education in Afghanistan by integrating technology skills. He contrasts the traditional system, which he describes as fostering excuses and rote learning, with his vision for practical education that equips Afghans with 21st-century skills, exemplified by his organization Hadaf.af.

Detailed Analysis

Haroon Azizi discusses the stark reality of education in Afghanistan, noting that despite a two-day internet shutdown shortly before the talk (0:14), social media platforms are heavily filtered, and the educational system favors memorization over practical application. He calls himself a 'crazy optimist' (0:43) because he believes in pursuing extraordinary goals despite these limitations. Azizi shares his personal experience of having only one passionate teacher in 12 years of schooling (2:32), which motivated him to create Hadaf.af. This organization aims to teach essential modern skills—like software development, UI/UX design, and database management—to Afghans globally, providing them with real knowledge not found in the existing system (3:20, 3:53). He emphasizes that they have successfully showcased student projects to employers and secured internships, demonstrating tangible results (4:38). Azizi concludes by challenging the audience to redefine what is considered impossible in Afghanistan by actively combining technology and education.