“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful” – Malala Yousafzai
An assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai in 2012 brought the plight of girls’ education in the country to international headlines. Despite the constitutional promise of fair and equitable education for everyone, female education in Pakistan has always faced acute challenges.
Local human rights organizations and international bodies have supported various ventures for female education in Pakistan. However, these efforts have been met with an inconsistent response at home due to government regime instability and more so due to a complicated social patriarchal system.
That said, female education in Pakistan has often come under an attack from the extremist groups, working for their discordant gains. This article is an attempt to hear that one voice. Let’s be a part of the effort to end the world’s silence.
Education and population statistics of Pakistan
Pakistan is the world’s fourth most populous country with a female population representing 48.6 percent of the entire population. Here is gender-based data of World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE):
Markers |
Women representation In % |
Men representation In % |
Never been to school |
36 |
28 |
Over-age primary school attendance |
39 |
43 |
Primary completion rate |
27 |
19 |
Out-of-school adolescents |
32 |
22 |
Lower secondary completion rate |
45 |
55 |
Higher education rate |
9 |
12 |
Mean years of education |
5.54 |
7.23 |
Female education in Pakistan – Issues
#1 Women in an economically developing world
Pakistan is a struggling economy with record high inflation in 2022, alongside an increasing fear of default. This year’s loss of crops to one of the most unfortunate natural disasters of the year have fueled the economic losses.
Pakistan spends 2.8 percent of the total GDP, it is still well short of the 4 percent target.
This number has increased from below 2% to 2.8%. Previously, Pakistan was one of the 12 countries in the world which spent less than 2 percent of their GDP on the education sector.
Still, with an insufficient budget allocation, Pakistan stays on the fringe of meeting the targets of universalization of primary education.
Women in an economically developing world are facing much higher risks and challenges. Education, healthcare, political representation, discrimination, and sexual violence have a comparitively higher prevelance.
#2 Pakistan in the World Economic Forum’s rankings
World Economic Forum’s 2012 annual report ranks Pakistan as least gender equitable countries in Asia and the Pacific region. Pakistan ranks at #134 at the bottom of the ranking that accounts for women’s educational attainment, economic participation and opportunity.
The 2012 annual report from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan highlights the challenges women face including being “attacked and killed on account of asserting their rights to education, work and generally for choosing to have a say in key decisions in their lives.”
#3 Pakistan in UNESCO’s report on girls’ education
“The poorest girls in Pakistan are twice as likely to be out of school as the poorest girls in India, almost three times as likely as the poorest girls in Nepal and around six times as likely as the poorest girls in Bangladesh.” (UNESCO report, 2012)
#4 Surge of violence and terrorism against female education in Pakistan
“Even when there is the possibility of enrolling in a school, actually doing so can be downright dangerous,” writes Harvard Kennedy School’s journal. Here is a timeline of attacks and assaults on girls’s schools or buses:
- 2012: Swat
- 2013: Bannu
- 2014: Bajaur agency
- 2014: Bara
- 2022: Waziristan
Along with this, numerous attacks have been targeted towards boys’ schools as well, depicting an extreme intolerance towards education.
Importance of education in Pakistan
#1 Women’s role in economic development
Women represent around 25% of the national workforce. A direct relationship between education and household earnings has been studied in multiple quantitative surveys in Pakistan. These studies conclude decisively that household earnings increase, thus impacting the overall well being of the economy of the country.
Importance of education in Pakistan and other countries can be assessed by the World Bank report (2018). The report states that investing in primary, secondary and higher education pays 20%, 14% and 11% returns respectively, which is higher than many other sectors of the economy.
#2 Role of gender equality and economic stability
The lack of opportunity for Pakistani women is also a loss for their country. According to a 2012 UNESCO report, literate Pakistani women earned nearly twice as much as those who were illiterate.
#3 Nonprofit and for-profit organizations working on girls’ education in Pakistan
- The Citizens Foundation, a non-profit organization, runs schools across the country, encouraging female enrollment to balance girls vs boys ratio on its campuses.
- The Kashf Foundation, founded in 1996, is the first microfinance institution in Pakistan to give opportunities to women from low-income backgrounds.
- The First Women Bank, founded in 1989, aims to support businesswomen.
- Pakistan’s Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) also provides support for female entrepreneurs.
- Dot and Line is a network of female teachers, offering job opportunities to women only.
- SheCodes is a local foundation that supports Pakistani women by teaching them how to code. Women represent only 14% of the workforce in the IT sector and SheCodes hopes to change that.
How to improve education sector in Pakistan?
The following recommendations address how we can improve education sector in Pakistan in general.
Innovation and technology in education
For Pakistan, online education may not be just the substitute for in-person education. Instead, it may be the means to make education more accessible to girls, housewives, unskilled workers, and out-of-school children.
The pandemic has left us in a lurch as we muse over the future of education in relation to technology. Online education in Pakistan faces the same questions. While many countries have made the decisions to keep courses and degrees online and to rapidly transfer new skills with a nominal fee.
Non formal education in Pakistan
Another possible solution that can contribute to a better education system in the country is non formal and literacy based education.
The Literacy and Non Formal Education Department was established in 2002 by the government of Punjab, Pakistan. It was designed to tackle problems related to the out of school children or those students who have been dropped out of the schools on account of poor academic performance.
In March 2020, the literacy policy of Pakistan was revamped and there have been hopes of overcoming the hurdles in formal education through informal education.
Policy-backed and wider support to girls
Most of the current efforts to improve girls’ education in Pakistan is backed by non-profit organizations. Girls’ education can be made better with changes in policy and better disbursement of fundings. Non-formal education has been the initiative of the Punjab government and it can be implemented in Northern and Western parts of Pakistan as well.
Changing the antithetical narrative: Is religion an impediment to women’s literacy?
Many believe that the impediment to education is based in a religious doctrine. Rather, this is contrary to the narrative supported by the religious sources which clearly indicate that education has always been the right of women.
While this may seem like an insurmountable task to change this belief, each household sending girls to the school is helping change this antithetical narrative.
In fact, women’s suffering has more to do with intolerance and oppression through social and economic means. Malala addressed the U.N. in favor of free, mandatory education around the world, adding that she was focusing on women “because they are suffering the most.”
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How Noon’s online study group is transforming Pakistan’s education system?
Noon Academy is an online study group of like minded individuals. Noon launched its online learning platform in 2020 in Pakistan. It teaches local syllabus of all grades till intermediate, Cambridge O/A Level, and university entrance tests. Pakistan represents one of the largest student bases of Noon.
Noon is leading the education trends by reaching over thousands of students, regardless of backgrounds or school affiliation, thus proving to be one of best schools online. Girls who may find it harder to find quality academies and tutors can make use online learning opportunities.
Anyone can benefit from Noon learning, whether one is enrolled in a public school or private.
Noon is offering to help students cover complete topics under different boards, taught by experienced teachers. Thus, this initiative is providing jobs to teachers as well as filling in the gaps of quality content and good teaching practices.
All courses at Noon are taught live to encourage social interaction. Other tools that improve social learning are discussion boards, educational games, and live chat options.
Let’s be a part of the future of education in Pakistan. Download the Noon App and start learning today!
References:
Alex, Raphel, October 10, T. J. R., & 2014. (2014, October 10). Women, girls and Malala: Research on gender and education in Pakistan, and beyond. The Journalist’s Resource. https://journalistsresource.org
Hussain, Amir. Primary Education in Pakistan. (2020, July 14). PIDE Blog. https://pide.org.pk