Educating girls
Only 43 per cent of all children in grade five can read a simple English text.
The needs of rural communities, often in areas that are thinly populated like Balochistan and interior Sindh, rarely receive priority and the education needs of girls in these places is not high on any federal or provincial agenda. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
The education of girls in Pakistan has always been a struggle. Sociocultural impediments, lack of an education infrastructure, particularly in remote areas, and underfunding have all played a part in the female education deficit. In parts of the country, Balochistan in particular, less than two per cent of women are literate to even a very basic level; and nationally, only 43 per cent of all children in grade five can read a simple English text. A ray of light has been provided by Unesco with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding improvement of accessibility and the quality of education for girls in remote areas. A some of $7 million had been pledged from the Malala Fund for Girls Right to Education in 2012 and it is heartening to see the successor government honouring the pledge.
It is now for the Ministry of Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education to implement the MoU. That might be easier said than done. The agreement will probably enhance employment opportunities for women teachers in remote areas, but there is still cultural resistance to educating girls in far-flung places, and $7 million is not going to go very far when spread across the national picture of deficit. The money is not coming from any government budget either, and at the very least, there should be a demonstration of support in terms of match-funding from the government side. The needs of rural communities, often in areas that are thinly populated like Balochistan and interior Sindh, rarely receive priority and the education needs of girls in these places is not high on any federal or provincial agenda. There needs to be attitudinal change both in government and in sociocultural positions for this initiative to be effective. Local leaders and religious scholars need to be brought on board and educated themselves, as they are often the key to success. Solutions that are ‘parachuted in’ without a sense of ownership by target communities often fail, killed off by the antipathy of those they were designed to benefit and we hope that will not be the case with this initiative.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2014.
It is now for the Ministry of Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education to implement the MoU. That might be easier said than done. The agreement will probably enhance employment opportunities for women teachers in remote areas, but there is still cultural resistance to educating girls in far-flung places, and $7 million is not going to go very far when spread across the national picture of deficit. The money is not coming from any government budget either, and at the very least, there should be a demonstration of support in terms of match-funding from the government side. The needs of rural communities, often in areas that are thinly populated like Balochistan and interior Sindh, rarely receive priority and the education needs of girls in these places is not high on any federal or provincial agenda. There needs to be attitudinal change both in government and in sociocultural positions for this initiative to be effective. Local leaders and religious scholars need to be brought on board and educated themselves, as they are often the key to success. Solutions that are ‘parachuted in’ without a sense of ownership by target communities often fail, killed off by the antipathy of those they were designed to benefit and we hope that will not be the case with this initiative.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2014.