Family size negatively impacts girls’ enrolment: Study

K-P government initiates stipends to students of grades six to 10th.

Beside poverty, social, cultural and administrative factors must also be addressed to improve girls’ education in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). This was the crux of a seminar discussion on Monday, according to a press release.

Titled “Female Education in Khyber -Pakhtunkhwa” the seminar was organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) to launch an impact assessment study to study the outcomes of a stipend programme. Initiated by the K-P government, a stipend of Rs200 was given to each girl in sixth to 10th grades from 2006 onwards to increase girls’ enrolment in secondary schools across the province under the programme.

Sharing the study’s findings, Muhammad Zeeshan from SDPI said, an increase of 7 per cent was observed in girls’ enrolment in secondary schools due to the stipend programme. “Some 93 per cent of families availed the stipend and around 35 per cent of the girls might have dropped out in the absence of a stipend.”

Unequal socioeconomic conditions make female education less attractive, he stated. Also, the probability of female schooling decreases by 2.8 per cent if the distance of home from school increased by 1 per cent, he added.

He also revealed that family size has a negative impact on girls’ schooling where the probability of female schooling decreases by 0.7 per cent with an additional family member. If the family is aware of socioeconomic benefits of education, the probability of female education increases by 5.2 per cent, he added.

Based on the findings, he proposed several recommendations for improving the programme, including the involvement of an educational economist, introduction of an awareness programme and reduction of delays in funds transfer.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2013.