Maryam NazirSN 2014-39010010Liu Baocun, Ph.D. ProfessorCourse: Educational reforms

Girl’s Education in Pakistan

Expanding education, especially basic education, has been an

objective of education policy in developing countries over the

past two decades. The reasons for this objective are clear. Basic

education is often considered a right which nations have a

responsibility to guarantee to each generation. And, the

benefits to education are by now well established. The evidence

is overwhelming that education raises the quality of life; it

improves health and productivity in market and non-market work,

increases individuals, access to paid employment, and often

facilitates social and political participation. The evidence is

also clear that total benefits to education multiple when schools

open their doors to girls and women.

Introduction

Education is the right of every human being. Being an active

member of society, one must be aware of what is happening around

and explore different perspectives. It plays main role in shaping

individual to put his/her potential to contribute in economic

well – being, not only for his/her family, communities but also

world-widely. To live a prosperous life, one should get

education. Therefore, in developing countries the main objective

of educational policy is to provide basic education to all. The

education policy is multiplied when school doors are open for

girls. Educated women have ability to provide better quality of

life, health, education and social deeds to their children. Any

nation that have higher levels of female school enrollment show

high level of economic productivity, low fertility, lower infant

and maternal mortality along with longer life expectancy

(Schultz1989).

Primary education is compulsory for every child but due to

poverty and child labor, it has been unable to achieve 100%

enrollment. In developing nations, there is a huge difference in

the rates of enrollment of boys as compared to girls. The gap in

enrollment rates between gender remains considerable in nearly

every low and lower middle income country. As a result of the

higher dropout and lower primary and secondary school enrollment

rates, girls and women in many developing countries attain fewer

years of schooling than boys and men droplet the benefits to

their education. There has been a significant shift towards

greater gender differences in enrollment rates at the primary

level. The progress took place in all regions, and was more

pronounced in those regions with greatest gender disparities.

Still, in low income countries with low enrolment levels, girls

are less likely than boys to enter primary schooling (UNESCO

Institute for Statistics, 2011; UNICEF, 2011).  

In Pakistan, the state of girls’ education is far from

optimal. Social and cultural obstacle bound females to have any

interaction with males which make restrictions of female

mobility. At the regional or country level, there are also more

boys’ schools than girls’ schools. This condition is leading

towards the damage of girls’ education in Pakistan. There are

7.261 million children out of school at primary level and 58% are

females. (UNESCO, Education for ALL Global Monitoring Report

2011). Also, parents demand separate building and other

facilities for boys and girls (World Bank 1987a, 1987b, Ref 4).

The situation is especially alarming in rural areas. One of the

most terrible aspects is that in some places, particularly

northern tribal areas, the education of girls is strictly

prohibited.

History of women education

The education of women is the need of the hour. Much

religious scripts, legends and great philosophers have stressed

its importance as cultural imperative. Napoleon was once asked,

what the great need of France was. He simply answers, "Nation's

progress is impossible without trained and educated mothers. If

the women of my country are not educated, about half of the

people will be ignorant." According to Socrates, ‘if women are to

have the same duties as men, they must have the same education.’

(M. Gillet, 1969). With these statements, it is clear that

education of women has been considered as an important since

ages. But in the past, there were also many delusions found about

educating women e.g. the Victorian ideas were that education of

women would break down the social systems as women would not

fulfill their traditional roles (Delemont, 1996). In 17th

century, Marie de Gourney (1622) gave emphases on women education

through her poetry and other literary work. Educational

institutes were seen as place for men. Educational opportunities

were gender dependent. The efforts to educate women continued and

resulted in establishment of first women’s educational institutes

named ‘The Young Ladies Academy in 1787 and Sarah Pierce’s

Litchfield Academy’ in 1792 in US. Struggle did not stop here, it

continued throughout the century and in 1837 the first

institution for higher education named Mount Holyoke was founded.

The first women movement in the United States started with Seneca

Fall Convention in 1848 with stress on equality of rights of

women, specifically focusing on education and employment. There

were rigid gender expectations during colonial area. “Colleges

were not for women because colleges were vocational training

schools, training for professions not open to women” (Boas, 1971,

p. 9). After the long struggle women enrollment in colleges

achieve 51% in 1980(Eisenmann, 1998). The early movements

following the Seneca Falls were not confined to US or UK only,

but by the end of the 19th century many countries realized that a

key to their progress is the education of their women.

Women education in Global perspective

Table: Comparison of Pakistan education ranking with other

countries out of 177.

Country 2005 2006 2007

Iran 99 96 94Sri Lanka 93 93 99Maldives 96 98 100India 127 126 128Bhutan 134 135 133

Pakistan 135 134 136Bangladesh 139 137 140

Nepal 136 138 142

Education is widely recognized as a critical mechanism for

equalizing life and career chances for everyone, but

particularly for girls and women. The empirical evidence is

clear that schooling has numerous benefits for girls’ and

women’s individual and family situations, including lower child

mortality and illness, greater education for offspring, and

higher participation in the labor force. Across all countries,

access to schooling is expanding, and with it the participation

of girls and women. Access to primary education has been

increasing over time, and girls have reached parity with boys in

most world regions, except sub-Saharan Africa and South/West

Asia. The primary causes for girls’ lack of parity in these

regions are poverty, which requires girls to contribute to

domestic tasks such as providing fuel and water; and traditional

gender norms that assign women rigid domestic roles that exalt

their responsibilities as mothers and care providers.

At present, two global initiatives Education for All and the

Millennium Development Goals seek to increase educational access

and completion. Both identify basic education as a priority and

seek to ensure gender parity in primary and secondary education.

In part because of these initiatives, primary school completion

rates have increased in low-income countries from 44 percent in

1990 to 63 percent in 2008 (UIS 2010). However, many rural and

ethnic minority populations still do not have access to formal

education, and a considerable number of children do not attend

school at all, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South/West

Asia. Recent estimates suggest that between 67 and 73 million

children of primary school age and 71 million children of lower

secondary school age—one in five within this age group—do not

attend school (UIS 2010). 

Demand for tertiary education has grown extremely across the

world in recent years. Yet access to tertiary education remains

uneven across and within nations, regions, and continents. The

number of tertiary students has been doubled since 1975-1995

throughout the world i.e 40.3 million to 80.5 million (World Bank

2000). In industrialized countries and in Latin America, the

number of female students in higher education has exceeded than

male students. In Muslims countries especially in south Asia

educational development can also be seen at that time but still

education system especially girls’ education, in these parts is

one of the major issue. Net enrollment rate in primary education

in Bangladesh and Bhutan has improved reaching a point of gender

parity by 2000 (UNICEF, 2000). Countries like India and Pakistan

still need improvements in spite of certain developments. Studies

show that Srilanka is far better than Pakistan regarding gender

gaps in education (Huebler Friedrich, 2008).

Educational Empowerment of Women in Pakistan

The deep rooted patriarchal system, conventional beliefs,

and tribal values of Pakistani society have been the major hurdle

in education of women in the country. Except religious education

which is provided mostly at home, females are deprived of

educational facilities. The picture of educational conditions is

bleak in Pakistan. Education of girls is strictly prohibited on

religious grounds. Native customs excludes females from the

advantage of education. Schools strictly speaking are confirmed

to education of boys. Female education was practically

nonexistent (Noorullah and Naik, 1951). These systems of

discouraging female education were a part of Pakistani society

from the very beginning and unfortunately it is still deep rooted

in the form of inequality, gender gap, poor health status of

women, little awareness about their rights and one of the major

contributing factor to this condition of Pakistani women is low

rates of education at all levels. This is important because

education gives her the maturity to think practically and take

decisions for herself. According to a World Bank report, ‘it is

widely presumed that higher levels of female literacy have an

inverse effect on women’s fertility, a sobering thought,

especially when placed in the context of a country with one of

the world’s highest population rates.’ (Weiss.M Anita, 1990).

This statement makes it quite clear that the number of children a

women bears is inversely related to her education and it gives

the understanding about general health condition of women too.

Increase in literacy levels of women becomes more important when

see that two third of the illiterate population of the world and

half of the total population of Pakistan is women. The

responsibility of upbringing the coming generation which in turn

leads to the socio-economic development of the state lies on

women’s shoulders and a nation cannot achieve this goal without

providing equal opportunity of education to them. The gender

disparity in literacy and enrollment needs to be taken seriously

and more effective measures should be taken to improve this

situation and reduce gender biases (Economic Survey of Pakistan

2005). This strengthens the view point that negative beliefs and

cultural systems are not the only reasons but the government

policies should also be held responsible right from the very

beginning. These biases in education policies were criticized by

Hassan. N. Iftikhar about the education policy 1974 he felt that

it was not only bias but also ambiguous. This policy stated that

girls should gain education like Home economics and boys should

go for Science subjects as they have different roles to play in

the society, which is extremely prejudiced. He further says that,

‘this policy has been succeeded by many other policies but this

bias has stayed’ (Hassan.N Iftikhar, 2002).

Some other like Weiss. M. Anita says that every government

had its own selfish motives behind female education and none of

them looked into its importance for women in the true sense, e.g

President Ayub Khan linked it with employment, Zulfiqar Ali

Bhutto based it on ideological grounds and under Zia’s regime,

female education especially at primary level was virtually

ignored and no steps were taken to improve it. Along with this in

1986 the budget allocation to education was as low as only 3.2%

of the total government expenditure (Weiss.M Anita, 1990).

Alarming situation in Pakistan

These are some of the reasons why Pakistan has slow growth

rates and in 20 years i.e. from 1952-1972 the total growth in

female literacy in the country was just 3% which improved to 16%

by 1981 (Weiss.M Anita, 1990). This 16% literacy rate further

rose up to 20.9% in 1990-91 and according to the Economic Survey

of Pakistan, it was again the lowest in the world (Statistical

Yearbook,1989-90).These figures show the alarming situation of

female education in Pakistan and even in later years i.e. 1996-97

this situation prevailed as we see that, ‘Pakistan is at the

bottom of the list of 8 selected Muslim countries in terms of

girls literacy rates of 24% compared with 78% in Indonesia,

Malaysia and Bahrain and 80% in UAE. These figures more alarming

when the report shows that out of 60% of illiterate population,

more than 60% are women, plus those without basic education

opportunities, 70% are girls.’(Bari. Zia Shehla & Farzana, 1999).

This situation reflected the negligence of the concerned

authorities and non-seriousness of the society toward the basic

requirement for development which is education. The raise in the

literacy 90’s was not at all satisfactory as there were rarely

any proper educational services in the country for females e.g.

30% of the total arts and science colleges were girls and only 8%

of the total professional for women and no women

universities(UNICEF,1992). The absence of higher education

opportunities for women gave rise to the need for women

universities and vocational education. As a result of this

realization several initiatives were taken by social welfare

departments and provincial education departments in the form of

different institutions for skill development. These institutions

were established all in all the four provinces offering trainings

in textile work, carpet weaving, livestock, agriculture with the

collaboration of, Agha Khan Rural Support Program, Fruit and

vegetable board of KPK and Punjab and various other NGO’s and

Donor Agencies, where 73% women were involved (F.Shaheed and

K.Mumtaz,1990). Realizing the issues pertaining to education of

females the education policy 1998-2010 also stressed on women

education and said that the policy makers and implementers should

move with a holistic approach providing opportunities to all

group in the society especially women (National Educational

Policy,1998-2010).

Table: Five year census literacy rate of male and female at rural

and urban area.

Yearof

census

Male Female

Total Urban Rural Definition of being

“literate”Agegroup

1951 19.2%

12.2%

16.4% - -

One who can read aclear

print in anylanguage

Allages

1961 26.9% 8.2% 16.3

% 34.8% 10.6%

One who is able toread with

understanding asimple letter in

any language

Age 5or

above

1972 30.2%

11.6%

21.7% 41.5% 14.3%

One who is able toread and

write in somelanguage withunderstanding

Age10 orabove

1981 35.1%

16.0%

26.2% 47.1% 17.3%

One who can readnewspaper

and write a simpleletter

Age10 orabove

1998 54.8%

32.0%

43.9%

63.08%

33.64%

One who can read anewspaper

and write a simpleletter, in any

language

Age10 orabove2004 66.2

5%41.75% 54% 71% 44%

2009 69% 45% 57% 74% 48%Source: Education for all global monitoring report 2006.

Rural and Urban

Education in Pakistan is provided in the form of government

schools, mosque schools and private schools with a huge gap

between rural and urban women. According to Labor Force Survey of

Pakistan 2003-04, the overall literacy rate of women in Pakistan

is 39.2%.Taking a look of gap prevailing between rural and urban

woman, the literacy rate of urban woman in 1961 was 21.3% in

comparison to rural women i.e. 2.2%. These figures kept improving

and in 1998 they rose up to 55.2% in urban women and 20.1% in

rural women. This ratio improved in 2003- 04 where rural women’s

literacy rate is 26.6% and that of urban women is 62.5%. The

trend in education in general and particularly for girls was

stagnant during 90’s especially in rural KPK it was 1.7% which

show the unsatisfactory increase in the 90’s (Government of

Pakistan,2006). The raise in 2000 was also due to different

initiatives taken by Musharraf Government in the form of

education sector reforms which focused particularly on reducing

gender gaps. Along with this legislations were made for

compulsory education in Punjab, NWFP, FATA and incentives were

given in the form of stipend for rural girls. During this era the

increase in enrollment rates in primary and middle schools was

the highest due to the reason that 1465 girls’ primary schools

were established at this time. (Government of Pakistan, 2006). In

short the education of women which is an old issue, in spite of

numerous developments around the world, still needs a lot of

serious attention and improvement in Pakistan.

Education Policy Pakistan

The objectives of education policies in Pakistan aim to

achieve equality in education between girls and boys and to

reduce the gender gap in the educational system. However, the

policy also encourages girls, mainly in rural areas of Pakistan,

to acquire basic home management skills, which are preferred over

full-scale primary education. According to the Article 25A in the

Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan which being

implemented in the state includes the free and compulsory primary

education to the every children of the state, as per the clause

under this policy the government is responsible of providing free

education to the children of the state both on federal and

provincial level of the country. Universities and institutions

which involved in higher education practices should register and

should recognize with the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan

which is known as HEC.

“The State shall remove illiteracy and provide free and

compulsory secondary education within minimum possible period; ;

make technical and professional education generally available and

higher education equally accessible by all on the basis of merit”

(Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 – Article

37-b). Pakistan is the state which has a very firm and positive

educational policy but unfortunately these policies are not being

implemented as per their design. This implementation should

ensure so that the future of millions of students of Pakistan who

will be the future of the state should make stronger and

brighter.

Education enrollment statics of Pakistan

Education in Pakistan is overseen by the Ministry of

Education of the Government of Pakistan as well as the provincial

governments, whereas the federal government mostly assists in

curriculum development, accreditation and in the financing of

research and development. The education system in Pakistan is

generally divided into five levels: primary (grades one through

five); middle (grades six through eight); high (grades nine and

ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate or SSC);

intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher

Secondary(School) Certificate or HSC); and university programs

leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Table: Total number of public and private institution in

Pakistan.

Level Total Public PrivatePre-primary 1,081 287 794Mosque school 14,123 14,035 88Primary 122,34

9

105,526 16,823

Middle 38,449 14,334 24,115Secondary 25,090 10,550 14,540British System 281 11 270NFBE 4,831 2,008 2,823

Inter & Degree

Colleges

1,882 1,025 857

Universities 116 59 57Technical/

Professional

1257 426 831

Vocational 3,059 916 2,143Deeni Madaris 12,

153

354 11,799

TOTAL 227,

791

151,77(67

%)

76,019(33

%)*UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2008-2012), including the Education for All

2000 Assessment. Survey data: DHS and MICS.

Enrollment statistics that are provided by the Ministry of

Education of Pakistan are of year 2008–2012. The statistics can

be divided into two categories, public schools and private

schools.

Primary education

Primary education (grade one through five) is compulsory for

every child in Pakistan, but due to poverty, and child labor,

Pakistan has been unable to achieve 100% enrollment at the

primary level.

Table: Gross and Net enrollment ratio of male and female at

primary and secondary level in Pakistan.

Gross enrollment Female Male Primary 83 101.3

ratio % Secondary 29.2 39.7Net enrollment

ratio %

Primary 65 79Secondary 28.9 34.6

Net attendance

ratio %

Primary 62.3 70Secondary 28.9 34.6

*UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2008-2012), including the Education for All

2000 Assessment. Survey data: DHS and MICS.

Public Sector

The total enrollment in primary public sector is 11,840,719,

and among them, 77% (6,776,536) are boys, and 59% (5,064,183) are

girls. The 79%of all the primary students in Pakistan are

enrolled in rural schools, and the gender enrollment ratios are

59% and 41% for boys and girls respectively in rural Pakistan

(UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2005).

Private Sector

The private schools are mostly located in urban centers, and

the total enrollment in private primary schools was 4,993,698.

Table: Total Number of Primary Level Educational Institutions(2011-12)

Sector and

Gender

Province/AreaPakist

anBaluchis

tanKP

Punja

b

Sind

hGB ICT FATA AJK

Publi

c

Male 7,78114,8

19

23,17

5

33,9

20668 98

2,69

3

2,0

2785,181

Fema

le2,773

7,94

1

20,88

9

11,8

39246 90

2,12

9

2,2

5948,166

Priva

te

Male 65 149 468 75 13 1 32 5 808Fema

le28 135 629 170 15 1 2 12 992

Mixe

d343

2,13

7

10,39

1

2,57

2151 166 9 639 16,408

NEF/BECS 6831,61

66040

1,73

8

1,4

66277

1,06

9205 13,094

Deeni

Madar

is

Male 2231,26

02,129 523 45 20 138 163 4501

Fema

le28 496 1,130 148 6 9 71 164 2,052

Mixe

d461

1,01

22,475

1,29

342 17 310 912 6522

Total 12,38529,5

65

67,32

6

52,2

78

2,6

52679

6,45

3

6,3

86

177,72

4

Note: Public sector enrolments include students in NCHD- supported feeder schools.

Source: Pakistan Education Statistics, 2011-12, AEPAM

Table: Total Number of Primary Level Enrolments (2011-12)

Sector and

Gender

Province/AreaPakist

anBaluchis

tanKP Punjab Sindh GB ICT FATA AJK

Publi

c

Male 335,600123403

7

270833

9

156403

3

4005

940323

17082

9

12251

3

621573

3Femal

e240083 931586

238799

8

109068

2

2514

241853

10874

5

12918

3

595527

2

Priva

te

Male 60333 421111213791

5636723

1975

118663 67286 80843 344625

Femal

e30522 199276

180664

0522004

1495

615131 6759 63763

265905

1NEF/BECS 22662 61497 224726 58802 5173 8923 45689 8990 483028

9

Deeni

Madar

is

Male 49560 271357 465017 2148611190

15024 29757 47924

109540

3Femal

e25670 118153 301637 132444 3298 7021 21654 53861 663738

Total 764430323701

7

100322

72

421954

9

1668

46

13694

0

45071

9

50707

7

195148

50

Source: Pakistan Education Statistics, 2011-12, AEPAM

Middle school level

Middle school level is from grade six through eight. The

enrollment level falls dramatically from primary to middle school

level in Pakistan. These statistics can be very helpful in

comprehending the problems faced by Pakistan in its educational

sector.

Public Sector

3,642,693 students are enrolled in public middle schools,

and among them, 61% (2,217,851) are boys, and 39% (1,424,842) are

girls. Of the total enrollment, 62% students are in rural areas,

and the enrollment of girls is much lower in rural middle schools

vis-à-vis urban schools. In rural schools, 66% enrolled students

are boys and 34% are girls.

Private Sector

The enrollment in private schools declines sharply after

primary level, as the cost of attendance in private schools

increases and the majority of the population cannot afford

private education in Pakistan. The total number of students

enrolled in private schools at middle level is 1,619,630. Of the

total level of enrollment in private schools, 66% students are in

urban schools. Hence, the ratio of boys and girls is relatively

balanced with 54% boys and 46% girls.

High school level

In Pakistan grades 9 to 10 constitute high school education.

Public Sector

The total number of students enrolled in private high

schools is 1,500,749. The 61% of students are boys and 39% are

girls. Overall enrollment decreases sharply at high school level.

A very disproportionate gender ratio is observed in rural high

schools, only 28% of the enrolled students are girls, and 72% are

boys.

Private Sector

632,259 students are enrolled in private high schools. Most

of them are in urban centers. The ratio of boys and girls

enrollment is 53% and 47% respectively.

Higher secondary

High secondary level includes grade eleven and twelve. And

university programs leading to undergraduate and graduate

degrees. According to the UNESCO's 2009 Global Education Digest,

6% of Pakistanis (9% of men and 3.5% of women) were university

graduates as of 2007 (UNESCO, 2009).

Public sector

There are 699,463 students enrolled in higher secondary

education in public institutions. There is almost 50% boys and

girls enrollment in higher secondary education. But there is a

discrepancy between urban and rural enrollments. Only 16% of the

students from the total number are from rural areas, and among

them only 28% are female students. While in urban centers, 55%

students are female students.

Private Sector 

154,072 students are enrolled in private higher secondary

institutions, with 51% boys and 49% girls.

Table: Enrollment at universities by gender and academic degree.

Academic

degree

2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

M F M F M F M F

Bachelor’s

210293

149390

236320

206227

272839

238478

293660

251102

Master’s 84445 56472 92840 80046 10687

4 93264 131102 93866

MPhil 6476 3954 7648 5176 8864 5995 11009 5737PhD 3741 1398 3993 1352 5469 1853 6014 2678PGD 3521 1783 4263 2196 4921 2535 5488 2849

Total 308476

212997

345064

294997

398967

342125

447273 35623

The Bill’s passage comes after a recent UN report identified

Pakistan as having the second worst global rate of out-of-school

children, with 5.1 million children out of school. On the

Education Development Index, Pakistan ranks 113 out of 120

countries but despite having some of the worst education

indicators in the world, Pakistan is making slow progress in

educating its population, including girls (UNESCO’s director in

Pakistan, Dr Kozue Kay Nagata).

Budget allocation

Pakistan has allocated only 2.3 per cent of the budget for

education, which is 0.3 per cent less than in 1999. Nine per cent

of government spending is on education, placing Pakistan 113th

amongst 120 countries on the Education Development Index. All

this for a country which has a total of 5.1 million out of school

children, the second highest in the world; 1 in 12 of the out of

school children in the world are in Pakistan (UNESCO Institute of

statistics, 2012)

Table: Education Expenditure as % of GDP

2003-04

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2.2 2.4 2.42 2.49 2.1 2.05 1.8 2.0**Estimated Source: Economic Survey of Pakistan (various issues)

Table: Education Total Budgetary Allocations and Expenditures (Rs

m)

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12Budget Actual %Util

iz.

Budget Actual %Utili

z.

Budget Actual %Utili

z.Punjab 127804

.5

106033

.1

83.00

%

164462

.3

140161

.6

85.20% 183042

.8

166829

.9

91.10%

Sindh 71949. 52870. 73.50 78704. 72394. 92.00% 73886. 47213. 63.90%

0 3 % 1 7 9 0KP 39495.

0

39138.

3

99.10

%

47720.

4

51030.

4

106.90

%

58248.

2

67381.

2

115.70

%Baluchis

tan

4055.8 7380.1 182.0

0%

18986.

6

19408.

5

102.20

%

21745.

9

23981.

1

110.30

%Federal 62536.

4

48481.

5

77.50

%

55665.

7

60487.

8

108.70

%

53512.

5

48150.

7

90.00%

National 305840

.8

253903

.5

83.00

%

365539

.1

343483

.0

94.00% 390436

.3

353555

.9

90.60%

*Actual: Total actual education expenditures at provincial and district levels.** EstimatedSource: Office of the Controller General, Accounts (CGA), 2012, Govt. of Pakistan

Table: Public expenditure on education as % of GDP

Public

expenditure on

education as %

of GDP

Percenta

ge

2012 2.135 %2011 2.22 %2010 2.28 %2009 2.59 %2008 2.74 %2007 2.63 %2006 2.62 %2005 2.25 %2004 1.94 %*UNSCO Institute of statistics

Educational reforms

Girls’ education features in all government education policy

documents. However, actually including girls in the state

educational system cannot be ensured in a context where the state

education system suffers from fundamental structural problems,

such as inadequate funding, a project based instead of sector

wide approach to educational policy planning, the political

rather than merit-based appointment of teachers, and a lack of

political will. Following reforms should be taken by the

government.

Expenditure reform

A government may choose to restructure its expenditures to

reallocate spending from higher education to lower levels of

education. Reforms aimed at increasing the supply of schooling

may focus on targeted spending or the expansion of coverage in

specific geographic areas through a mix of public and private

sector support, including public support for private education in

low-income areas.

Financing reform

A government may choose to reform the financing of education

by introducing user fees (cost recovery) or, as seen in a number

of developing countries in recent years, by eliminating them. A

related scheme is the introduction of community financing,

whereby, for example, communities are entirely responsible for

the construction and maintenance of buildings. Financing schemes

may include schemes on the demand side, in which funds are

channeled directly toward people who demand education rather than

people who supply it to strengthen the client’s power over

providers. Demand-side financing schemes may involve transfers to

households, vouchers, or payments given directly to students who

may submit them to the schools of their choice.

Management and institutional reforms

A country in which there is centralized management over the

education system may choose to implement management reforms by

decentralizing the administration of education. This may involve

a shift in responsibility from the central government to local

governments, communities, or schools. The shift might include a

simple delegation of tasks from the central government to

local governments or a complete transfer of authority and

decision-making power. The changes may be viewed not simply as

administrative adjustments, but as reforms that fundamentally

alter relationships of accountability and the way in which

services are provided. The classification of these changes as

institutional reforms may then be appropriate.

Conclusion and Recommendations

For an all round development, both material and spiritual

education is essential for all members of society. It has an

acculturating role. It refines sensitivities and perceptions that

contribute to national cohesion, a scientific temper and

independence of mind and spirit, thus, furthering the goals of

socialism, secularism and democracy enshrined in the

constitution. Education develops manpower for different levels of

economy. It is the substrate on which research and development

flourish and thus is an ultimate guarantee of national self-

reliance. Education will be used as an agent of change in the

status of women. The promotion of girl’s education is the

certification for having a build up society and economic boom in

the country. Education is a worldwide human right and every

country has amoral responsibility to pay for its citizen’s access

to at least basic one. There is a huge difference in the rates of

enrollment of boys as compared to girls in Pakistan. Pakistan has

fewer schools for girls than for boys. At the regional or country

level, there are also more boys’ schools than girls’ schools.

This condition is leading towards the damage of girls’ education

in Pakistan. The endorsement of girls’ education is the assurance

for having a developed society and an economic boom in the

country.

There will be a well-conceived edge in favor of women and

the policy will play a positive and interventionist role in the

empowerment of women. Besides emphasis on the removal of women's

illiteracy, studies on women's education, promotion of women's

education at different levels will be supported. The policy of

non-discrimination will be pursued vigorously to eliminate sex

stereo-typing in vocational, technical and professional courses

and to promote the participation of women in non-traditional

occupations as well as in existing and emergent technologies.

Following are the recommendations which are given

Demand for democracy

The attitudes towards women in Pakistani culture make the

fight for educational equality more difficult. The lack of

democracy and feudal practices of Pakistan also contribute to the

gender gap in the educational system. This feudal system leaves

women in a very weak position. The long-lived socio-cultural

belief that women play a reproductive role within the confines of

the home leads to the belief that educating women holds no value.

Although the government declared that all children of the ages 5–

16 can go to school, there are 7.261 million children out of

school at the primary level in Pakistan, and 58% are female

(UNESCO, Education for All Global Monitoring Report

2011). Although girls have the equal right to get an education

but still in many regions of Pakistan girls are strongly

discouraged from going to school. An overall policy for ensuring

equality of opportunity for all persons in society must begin

with active endeavors to promote new attitudes across the whole

range of activity in society - in the family, in the school, in

the place of work - and to encourage the development of new

cultural patterns. The actions should be taken to minimize the

differences between male and female so both can attain education

and sever for their country.

Develop legal frameworkGovernment should take to improve the situation. It is

needed to develop a strong legal framework to ensure the

provision of education under Article 25-A of the Constitution,

which mandates free and compulsory education for all aged 5-16.

Punjab and the other provinces should take the lead since

education had become a provincial responsibility under the 18th

Amendment (Dr Nagata, 2012). The development of educational

equality between the sexes should be monitored by national or

governmental bodies, whose role could include advising on policy

and

legislation, collecting and dispensing information, monitoring

attitudes purveyed in publicity material for educational

opportunities, scrutinizing teaching materials and investigating

cases of discrimination.

Conduction of researchResearch should be encouraged, firstly into actual participation

levels and achievement levels of girls and women in relation to

those of boys and men, and secondly into factors acting as

barriers to equal participation and achievement in national

education systems. Areas for detailed enquiry need to be

allocated degrees of priority, but subjects which urgently

deserve attention include:

the nature and extent of sex-role stereotyping in school teaching

materials, in school timetabling, in educational and careers

guidance; the suitability of different teaching methods for each

sex; the effect of co-education as opposed to single-sex

education; regional and social class variations in comparative

achievement levels. Those girls who suffer from compound

disadvantages (i.e. those arising from their sex compounded with

those which may be suffered by either sex in terms of ability,

social background or geographical area) should be a priority

research area. In view of the current acute concern about

unemployment and the future shape of the labor market an

articular focus for useful research might be the construction of

models of the labor market in a situation where women were better

qualified and more readily accepted in certain jobs.

Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary

levelThe plans should be made to promote equity in education with

the aim of eliminating social exclusion and promoting national

cohesion. Greater opportunities should be provided to

marginalized groups of society, particularly girls. Gender

disparities should be eliminated in primary and secondary

education by 2005. The main target is achieving gender equality

in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls' full and

equal access to basic education and with the provision of good

quality of education (National plan of action 2013-2016).

"Changes in education could bring dramatic improvements in the

social and economic position of women in an astonishingly short

time. Equal opportunity for education is fundamental. Education

opens the door to almost every life goal. Wherever women are

denied access to education they cannot be said to have equality”.

(Gaskell, et. all.1986).

Public awareness

Two-thirds of the out of school children in the country,

over three million of them, are girls, says the report. Of the

49.5 million illiterate adults in Pakistan, again, two-thirds are

women, the third highest rate in the world. Raising public

awareness of the benefits of education for girls is the key.

“There is a negative attitude among people about education,

especially for girls,” (Dr Nagata, 2012). In Punjab, Balochistan

and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the poorest girls are the most

disadvantaged in terms of education, with more than half never

having gone to school.

Rising funds for women educationFeminist economists argue that the government of Pakistan

needs to fully address and resolve the gender concerns that

exist in the educational sector. One of the ways to improve this

situation is by increasing funding for women's education,

encourage and financially incentivize people in the rural areas

to send their girls to schools. It is needed that Education

sector should be treated as a special sector by immunizing

budgetary allocations for it from fiscal stresses and political

and economic instabilities. Allocations for education should not

be affected by squeezed fiscal space or surge in military

expenditure or debts. At the same time, there is a need to

debate others options about how Pakistan can "invent" the

miracle of raising education expenditure to 7 percent of GDP by

2015 (M. Siraj, 2010).

High level of work force participationWomen in Pakistan are subjected to severe employment

discrimination. Theorist claims that female employment has

positive impact on country economy and women wellbeing. Although

women comprises 49.1% of total population their proportion in

labor force is 21.6% where as their participation rate as

percentage of total population of female, as of 2011 is only 22%

(Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2009). This shows that male

orientated labor market which is characteristics of many of many

countries around the globe. Out of 187 countries Pakistan is

pointed at low end of continuum at 146th (Wall, J., 2011).

Table: Labor force statistics of Pakistan, Source: Pakistan

Bureau of Statistics, Labor Force Survey 2012-13Labor Force Statistics Males Females Total

Population(million) 93.29266 87.64734 180.94

% of population 51.56 48.44 100Rural population(% of total

population) 34.11 32.23 66.34

Urban population(% of totalpopulation) 17.44 16.21 33.66

% of total work force (urban) 77.12 22.88 100% of total work force (rural) 51.11 20.08 71.19Children in employment, (% of

population ages 7-14) 12.5 13.5 13

Unemployment (% of labor force) 5.73 9.19 6.54Labor participation rate(% of

population ages 10+) 70.03 22.79 47.06

Labor participation rate(% ofpopulation ages 10+)(rural) 71.46 29.88 51.06

Labor participation rate(% ofpopulation ages 10+)(urban) 67.5 9.54 39.78

In the apprentice of gender studies, the gender division of

labor is considered patriarchal, and feminists argue that it can

be consciously neutralized by the public policies, i.e.

encouraging girls to study mathematics, science, computers, and

business administration etc. This way, girls will specialize in

higher paying fields (jobs) instead of solely focusing on care

work. The gender disparity in literacy and enrollment needs to

be taken seriously and more effective measures should be taken

to improve this situation and reduce gender biases (Economic

Survey of Pakistan 2005). Pakistan’s low rate of female literacy

is an obstacle to workforce participation. But as education

levels rise, labor force participation will also rise for

Pakistan to capture fully its return on investment in girls’

education.

Need of timeIn a society women have multiple roles to play which are

largely determined by social, religious and cultural factors. A

compelling body of evidence has emerged in recent years

demonstrating that investing in girls’ education is the most

effective way to pursue a broad range of critical development

objectives. Educated women have fewer children, provide better

nutrition and health for their families, experience

significantly lower child mortality, generate more income and

are far more likely to educate their children than women with

little or no schooling, creating a virtuous cycle for the

community and the country.

Women's rights in Pakistan under Pakistan's dual system of

civil and sharia law, females are considered equal under the law

and in religious practice, rights accorded to them by Pakistan's

Islamic Republic constitution of 1958 and consolidated in 1973,

which outlawed gender discrimination on all levels. However,

women face significant challenges in society, the economy and

face a slow lower courts judicial system in order to get

justice. Recent statistics from UNICEF(2010) shows that the

female literacy rate has risen significantly from a paltry 39.6

percent to a much improved rate of 61.5% for 15-24 year-olds; a

highly significant factor given that 70% of Pakistan's

population is under 30.

Great leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who said to his Muslim

brethren in 1940: "No nation can rise to the height of glory

unless your women are side by side with you; we are victims of

evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are

shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There

is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which

our women have to live."

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