Gender disparity in Afghanistan
It needs more than textbook, pencil to become schoolgirl in Afghanistan. It takes bravery, risk of one’s life.
In a country such as Afghanistan, where the literacy rate is merely 28.1 per cent (Unicef, 2004), the need for more education is evident. Education is the only hope to alleviate poverty and bring social change. Educating children is the only ladder through which Afghans can climb out of poverty, ignorance, exclusion and get closer to peace, improvement and prosperity. These dreams can only come true if girls are encouraged towards education.
For the first time, Afghanistan has experienced the highest rate of school children enrolment. According to the Ministry of Education (MoE) statistics, the number of student enrolment in schools has increased from 2.3 million in 2002 to 6.2 million in 2008. Still, there are challenging issues. For instance, despite progress in school enrolment, half of the country’s school-age children are out of school. The majority of those not receiving education are girls. About 85 per cent of urban women and 92 per cent of rural women in Afghanistan are illiterate. Overall, only six per cent of Afghan women have ever received any formal education and only 12 per cent are literate. The ratio of girls to boys in primary school is roughly 1:2. By the time girls enter puberty, the ratio drops to 1:4. In more than 80 per cent of rural districts, there are no girls in secondary school. And, at each step they take to get educated, girls are psychologically terrorised. It needs more than a textbook or a pencil to become a schoolgirl in Afghanistan. It takes tremendous bravery or even risking one’s life.
One of the major causes of girls’ inaccessibility to education is the poverty that has dominated the Afghan society. Some nine million Afghans — 36 per cent of population — are not able to meet their basic needs (MoE, 2010). With hungry stomachs and bare feet, it would be too idealistic to expect the children to go and study at school. Another major factor that determines family decisions on whether to send girls to school is quality of education. The imposed urban-modelled curricula that are considered to be irrelevant to the lives of children in diverse rural communities will surely make families reluctant towards sending their children to schools. Furthermore, school distance can also determine families’ attitudes towards girls’ education as the issue of sexual harassment surfaces if schools are far. Finally, social norms also regulate families’ attitudes towards educating their girls. A study from 2011 summarised that if a girl is enrolled in school, there is fear of being shamed by extended family members and neighbours. ‘People talk’ is humiliating for members of a household. Hence, it is not only families that decide their daughters’ future but also a strong ‘invisible social force’ that determines a girl’s future. It means that the biggest hindrance to girls’ education in Afghanistan is the attitude of society towards girls’ education.
Mostly, girls are seen as ‘a threat to male honour’ from birth to death. The proverbs used among people portray the status of a female in Afghanistan. One of the proverbs is that “females are created either to be at home or in the grave”. These proverbs have their deep roots in the attitude of society towards females. These attitudes portray females as a ‘burden’ on the shoulders of their male family members. To get rid of this burden, the easiest way is ‘the early and forced marriage’. Early marriages, on the one hand, alleviate the economic pressures of the families and, on the other, lighten the ‘honour threat’ that girls carry with them for their families. Looking from a broader lens, girls in Afghanistan are mostly treated as ‘reproductive machines’. Their beauty and physical strength determines their status in society rather than their potential in bringing positive changes to society. The anti-educationists in Afghanistan have rightly identified girls’ fragility and they continuously terrorise girls by throwing acid on their faces to deprive them of being educated.
It is well said that “Educate a man and you educate an individual, educate a woman and you educate a family”. Girls’ education plays a vital role in democratisation and for the reconstruction process of a new Afghanistan; women can be essential agents for development. The government needs to deal with the double-sided sword of girls’ education. Firstly, it needs a materialistic approach for providing job opportunities, improving economic sustainability, building more schools and training enough teachers. Secondly, it needs to break the strong psychological barrier that has shaped the attitude of society towards girls’ education.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2012.
For the first time, Afghanistan has experienced the highest rate of school children enrolment. According to the Ministry of Education (MoE) statistics, the number of student enrolment in schools has increased from 2.3 million in 2002 to 6.2 million in 2008. Still, there are challenging issues. For instance, despite progress in school enrolment, half of the country’s school-age children are out of school. The majority of those not receiving education are girls. About 85 per cent of urban women and 92 per cent of rural women in Afghanistan are illiterate. Overall, only six per cent of Afghan women have ever received any formal education and only 12 per cent are literate. The ratio of girls to boys in primary school is roughly 1:2. By the time girls enter puberty, the ratio drops to 1:4. In more than 80 per cent of rural districts, there are no girls in secondary school. And, at each step they take to get educated, girls are psychologically terrorised. It needs more than a textbook or a pencil to become a schoolgirl in Afghanistan. It takes tremendous bravery or even risking one’s life.
One of the major causes of girls’ inaccessibility to education is the poverty that has dominated the Afghan society. Some nine million Afghans — 36 per cent of population — are not able to meet their basic needs (MoE, 2010). With hungry stomachs and bare feet, it would be too idealistic to expect the children to go and study at school. Another major factor that determines family decisions on whether to send girls to school is quality of education. The imposed urban-modelled curricula that are considered to be irrelevant to the lives of children in diverse rural communities will surely make families reluctant towards sending their children to schools. Furthermore, school distance can also determine families’ attitudes towards girls’ education as the issue of sexual harassment surfaces if schools are far. Finally, social norms also regulate families’ attitudes towards educating their girls. A study from 2011 summarised that if a girl is enrolled in school, there is fear of being shamed by extended family members and neighbours. ‘People talk’ is humiliating for members of a household. Hence, it is not only families that decide their daughters’ future but also a strong ‘invisible social force’ that determines a girl’s future. It means that the biggest hindrance to girls’ education in Afghanistan is the attitude of society towards girls’ education.
Mostly, girls are seen as ‘a threat to male honour’ from birth to death. The proverbs used among people portray the status of a female in Afghanistan. One of the proverbs is that “females are created either to be at home or in the grave”. These proverbs have their deep roots in the attitude of society towards females. These attitudes portray females as a ‘burden’ on the shoulders of their male family members. To get rid of this burden, the easiest way is ‘the early and forced marriage’. Early marriages, on the one hand, alleviate the economic pressures of the families and, on the other, lighten the ‘honour threat’ that girls carry with them for their families. Looking from a broader lens, girls in Afghanistan are mostly treated as ‘reproductive machines’. Their beauty and physical strength determines their status in society rather than their potential in bringing positive changes to society. The anti-educationists in Afghanistan have rightly identified girls’ fragility and they continuously terrorise girls by throwing acid on their faces to deprive them of being educated.
It is well said that “Educate a man and you educate an individual, educate a woman and you educate a family”. Girls’ education plays a vital role in democratisation and for the reconstruction process of a new Afghanistan; women can be essential agents for development. The government needs to deal with the double-sided sword of girls’ education. Firstly, it needs a materialistic approach for providing job opportunities, improving economic sustainability, building more schools and training enough teachers. Secondly, it needs to break the strong psychological barrier that has shaped the attitude of society towards girls’ education.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2012.