UNESCO report places Pakistan in bottom 10 in female education

Reveals nearly two-thirds of the country’s poor girls have never spent time in a classroom.


News Desk November 10, 2012



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)

Raj - USA | 11 years ago | Reply

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.

HMM.. | 11 years ago | Reply

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.

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