Daily Times

We all are aware and even enlightened that Women’s education in Pakistan is a fundamental right of every female citizen, according to article thirty-seven of the Constitution of Pakistan, but gender discrepancies still exist in the educational sector.

Sadly, Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world. However, it should come as no surprise that Pakistan is listed as one of the countries that have large gender gaps in education, and therefore requires substantial investments in girls’ education for a socio-economic uplift.

On the other hand, the literacy rate among women in tribal areas is alarmingly low and stagnant. It’s a harsh reality that FATA region has as low as a 7.8 percent female literacy rate. FATA consists of seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions, and are directly governed by Pakistan’s federal government through a special set of laws called the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). The reasons for such a depressing literacy rate in the region are quite evident: cultural and social constraints, poverty, local leaders disinterest in education of their communities, hostile attitude towards women’s liberation, very low budgetary allocations for the sector and, on top of it, the menace of terrorism, still afflicting that region the most.

According to a survey conducted by the FATA Secretariat and the Bureau of Statistics two years back, only 7.8 percent of adult women in the region were literate, compared to 45 percent of men. Overall, the adult literacy rate in FATA is 28.4 percent, while the national average is 57 percent. At least 44.2 percent children in FATA have never been enrolled in schools, though the average distance from an institute is 1.8 kilometres.

The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) at the primary level (six-10 years of age) is 77.4 percent for FATA, while the rest of the country stands at 91 percent. Only a small proportion (2.3 percent) of currently enrolled children aged between six and 15 attend religious schools, while 68.6 percent go to government schools and 29.1 percent are in private schools. The Khyber Agency has the highest literate population above the age of 10 at 49.4percent, and Bajaur Agency has the lowest at just 19.6 percent.

The Assessment Report 2015-16 presents a dismal picture of the overall education sector in the region: around 53 percent government-run schools and colleges are working without water, electricity, and even boundary walls and toilet facilities. Moreover, 18 percent institutions have been dysfunctional for the last two decades.

The report further revealed that there were about 5,994 government educational institutions including schools and colleges in FATA, which are devoid of clean drinking water, adequate electricity, and furniture facilities. Moreover, 2,256 institutions, especially of female schools and colleges, are in a highly vulnerable condition and open to risk from terrorist attacks due to unavailability of proper boundary walls and other safety measurements. The report also indicates that around 3,368 posts, ranging from college and school principals to librarians, have been lying vacant for the last ten years. According to the report, the dropout ratio of the students in FATA and FR regions had reached an alarming level after the wave of militancy and terrorism.

According to a report, released by Alif Ailaan education initiative in mid-2016, there are 6,050 educational institutions in FATA, of which 4,868 (2,905 for boys and 1,963 for girls) are functional, while 1,182 (683 for boys and 499 for girls) are non-functional. The overall dropout rate from kindergarten to class five, over the period of the last six years, has been 73 percent, of which 70 percent are boys and 77 percent girls.

believe that cultural, traditional and social practices had kept Fata women in a highly vulnerable position. Tribal traditions not only restricted and excluded them from decision-making even at the domestic level but also limited their access to education. Last but not the least, destruction of infrastructure and internal displacement of millions of people because of government operations against militancy had pushed down education from their priority list.

I am sad that the governments of all the provinces are investing in gimmicks projects rather than investing in people. I wrap up my discussion with these remarks that if we want to develop as a nation, we need to invest in literacy, which is an essential element of human resource development. A strong political will, vision and commitment, as well as a competent and sufficient faculty is required to enhance women’s education in the country. Women’s education serves as the most powerful tool that can significantly help Pakistan to achieve its national goals while utilising women’s power, skills, knowledge and competencies.

The writer is a social and political activist based in Lahore. He can be reached at salmanali088@gmail.com