She was educated at the Lycée Malalaï, before graduating from the College of Science at Kabul University.
[2][3] Noorzai subsequently returned to Lycée Malalaï, becoming its headteacher and later headed the Women's Faculty at Kabul University.
[6] One of the leading feminists in Afghanistan, Noorzai was one of the first women to stop wearing a veil in public, after Queen Humaira Begum had set the example by appearing without hers in 1959.
[2] In 1964 King Mohammed Zahir Shah appointed her to an advisory committee that reviewed the draft 1964 constitution,[7] which granted women the right to vote and stand for election.
[9] As director of the Women's Institute, she was elected to the Loya Jirga in 1977 during the rule of President Mohammed Daoud Khan.