As the world expresses solidarity with Malala Yousafzai’s stand on female education, Pakistan finds itself in the bottom 10 of new country rankings for the education of poor females, according to a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) report.
Unesco’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report (EFAGMR) revealed Pakistan is in the bottom 10 countries, according to the proportion of poor girls who have never been in school. According to the report, only six African countries fare worse than Pakistan in this respect. It revealed 62% girls in Pakistan, aged between seven and 15, have never spent time in a classroom. This is compared to 30% in India and 9% in Bangladesh.
The report showed Pakistan was also in the bottom 10 countries ranked according to the time young women spend in school in their lifetime. It stated girls, between the ages of 17 and 22, on an average spend one year in school in Pakistan. Girls in India and Bangladesh, in comparison, spend 2.9 and 4.4 years in school on an average.
“Almost two-thirds of Pakistan’s poor girls have never been to school,” said EFAGMR director Pauline Rose in a press release.
“Without a real step change by the government … they will be denied equal opportunities in work and life forever,” she added.
“As we stand together on ‘Malala Day’, it is vital to stand up for what she believes in, and highlight difficulties many poor girls and young women face in getting to school.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2012.
COMMENTS (11)
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India should improve and that too very fast. Bangladesh is much young country and they are far ahead of India. It is really a shame on India that it has not fared well in this sector. Founder of Wipro, Mr. Azim Premji has the real vision and a large heart. He donated USD 1 Billion to set up teachers training colleges. Hope things will improve soon.
Hats off to Bangladesh government and also the conscious citizens of Bangladesh on their vision and progress.
What's you gonna do with the education? No jobs in the market. Even Master qualified people are getting Rs 25,000 (USD 250) per month in Pakistan - Lahore; provided if they found one :). The important thing is people should be technically trained to earn money. Yes basic education should be given to all for free. Languages, corporate and social laws should be taught in schools. BUT don't forget that we need people to do low level jobs too. Educated person doesn't want to be a carpenter, car mechanic etc. Just providing education to all and expect all to become doctors and engineers is of no beneficial to the country and social system. We need people in all fields.
keep supporting the taliban and keep thriving on conspiracies soon you will be number 1!
It's half your population - you want to progress and join the modern world then your going to have to allow women to reach their full potential.
Bangladesh 9%, wow they did good job by kicking us out otherwise they will at the bottom.
I did not realize my Pakistan is so pure ....
Another revelation : Even very low income countries spend around 4% of their budget allocation to education. Pakistan is the only country spending 2.5%( lowest) of its budget on education.
We are on the right path gentlemen, just a little more effort and we'll get the bottom spot! Don't give up now!
afghanistan better than pakistan???................
Looking on the bright side the only thing anybody can say is that Pakistan cannot get any worse, and that from now on surely has to improve. From the comments some people have written, it appears to be quite apparent that many parents, for some obscure reason, seem to think that males should take precedence over their sisters. This is quite wrong. Females have to live in this world and they hurt just like everybody else.
9% in bangladesh?? thats amazing...............bangladesh is making good strides in human development even though its HDI remains just lower than pakistan..............