‘Barriers to Girls’ Education in Naya Pakistan

Pakistan was described as "among the world’s worst performing countries in education,” at the 2015 Oslo Summit on Education and Development. The new government, elected in July 2018, stated in their policy that nearly 22.5 million children are out of school. Girls are particularly affected. Thirty-two percent of primary school age girls are out of school in Pakistan, compared to 21 Percent of boys. By grade six, 59 percent of girls are out of School, versus 49 percent of boys. Only 13 percent of girls are still in school by ninth grade. Both boys and girls are Missing out on education in unacceptable numbers, but Girls are worst affected.

Political instability, inconsistent influence on governance by security forces, repression of civil Society and the media, violent insurgency, and religious tensions all poison Pakistan's current social landscape. These forces distract from the government's obligation to deliver essential services like education and girls lose out the most.

There are high numbers of out-of-school children, and significant gender inequalities in education, across the entire country, but some areas are much worse than others. In Balochistan, the province with the lowest percentage of educated women, as of 2014-15, 81 percent of women had not completed primary school, compared to 52 percent of men. Seventy-five percent of women had never attended school at all, compared to 40 percent of men. According to this data, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had higher rates of education but similarly huge gender inequalities. Sindh and Punjab had higher rates of education and somewhat lower gender inequalities, but the gender inequalities were still 14 to 21 percent.

Across all provinces generation after generation of children, especially girls, are locked cut of education and into poverty. In interviews for this report, girls talked again and again about their desire for education, their wish to “be someone,” and how these dreams had been crushed by being unable to study.

Barriers to Girls’ Education within the School System

Lack of Investment

High Cost of Education

Poor Quality of Education

No Enforcement of Compulsory Education

Associated Costs of Government Schooling

Water, Sanitation, and Facilities

Teacher Absences and Qualifications

Madrasa and Informal Tuition as Alternatives to School

Corruption

Lack of access to education for girls is part of a broader landscape of gender inequality in Pakistan: The country has one of Asia's highest rates of maternal mortality. Violence against women and girls including rape, so-called “honor’ killings and violence, acid attacks, domestic violence, forced marriage and child marriage is a serious problem, and government responses are inadequate. Pakistani activists estimate that there are about 1,000 honor killings every year. Twenty-one percent of females marry as children. Many of the ‘barriers to girls! education are within the School system itself. The Pakistan government simply has not established an education system adequate to meet the needs of the country's children, especially girls. While handing Off responsibility to private school operators and religious schools might seem like a solution, nothing can forgive the state of its obligation, under international and domestic law, to ensure that all children receive a decent education something that simply not happening in Pakistan today. Moreover, despite all the barriers, many people interviewed for this report described growing demand for girls’ education, including in marginalized communities.

Imran Khan’s failure to educate girl child

Pakistan is failing to educate a huge proportion of the country's girls due to the government's under-investment in schools, lack of schools, prohibitive school fees, corporal punishment, a failure to enforce compulsory education and gender discrimination, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released in Nov 2018. The 111-page report, titled "'Shall I Feed My Daughter, or Educate Her?': Barriers to Girls' Education in Pakistan", said many girls simply had no access to education because of a shortage of government schools for them. "The Pakistan government's failure to educate children is having a devastating impact on millions of girls," said Liesl Gerntholtz, the women's rights director at HRW. The New York-based HRW interviewed 209 people for the report, most of them with girls who never attended school, in all four of the country's provinces: Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. After 2018 Imran Khan takeover as PM, Pakistan is spending less than 2.8 per cent of its gross domestic product on education -- far below the recommended 4 to 6 per cent.

Prime Minister Imran Khan's political party's manifesto promised major reforms to the education system, including for girls' education. However, there were many who said that the government doesn't help them educate their children. "The government doesn't help the poor. We can't educate our children, and we can't feed ourselves," said Rukhsana, mother of three out-of-school children.

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Barriers to Girls’ Education Outside the School System

Poverty

Social Norms

Insecurity

Armed Conflict and Targeted Attacks on Schools

The Government of Pakistan has faced criticism over its failure lack of girl education since Imran Khan came into power in 2018. Pakistan has been rocked by gory sexual attacks. Sexual harassment and violence against girls child & women are not uncommon in Pakistan. Violence against women and girls including rape, murder, acid attacks, domestic violence, and forced marriage remains a serious problem throughout Pakistan. Human rights defenders estimate that roughly 1,000 girls & women are killed in so-called honour killings every year since Imran Khan came to power, the situation of girls & women in Pakistan has worsened. Pakistan has been ranked 153rd out of 156 countries on gender inequality, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2021.

The percentage of people who had ever attended school was:

Balochistan: 25 % of women, 60 % of men

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 36 % of women, 74 % of men

Sindh: 50 % of women, 71 % of men

Punjab: 56 % of women, 74 % of men

Similar gender and regional disparities existed among those who completed primary school:

Balochistan: 19 % of women, 48 % of men

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 28 % of women, 59 % of men

Sindh: 43 % of women; 62 % of men

Punjab: 47 % of women; 61 % of men

Across all provinces, generation after generation of children, especially girls, are locked out of education and into poverty.

VANTAGE POINT

In Pakistan, young girls miss school partly because of the Sunni Islamic militant group the Taliban. The group claims educating women goes against Islam. In 2012, Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban after advocating for girls' education using a pen name, bringing global attention to the group’s violent threat on the nation’s young women. As recently happened in Afghanistan, Taliban after formation of government, has passed orders that no education of girls & women are not allowed to work. After that protest started in Afghanistan against Taliban govt and their sharia orders. like vise one day Pakistan will be facing all these situations as TTP having same ideology is re energizing in Pakistan.