Daily Times

Education is the key to success. However, in Pakistan, despite comprising over half of the general population, the female literacy rate is negligible.

Various policies are formulated to achieve a considerable literacy rate but still, the country is unable to achieve the goal of universal education due to various hurdles.

It is usually believed that no society can progress when half of its population is kept backwards and prevented from playing its due role in social change and progress as well as human development. Both men and women have been given equal educational rights in religion and constitution but in reality, the practice is quite reverse.

I strongly believe female education has never received much attention from successive governments in Pakistan, apart from developing policies and plans on paper. However, the overall education system in Pakistan has suffered from copious inadequacies, ranging from a dismal allocation of financial resources required to establishing a countrywide network of good schools to the development of a cadre of teachers, committed to their profession. The education sector has been symbolised by poor infrastructure; unmotivated and incompetent teaching workforce; disinterested student populace and disenchanted parents. Of the four provinces, Sindh has the second-highest number of total out-of-school female students, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Sindh also has the highest contribution of 36 per cent to the national figure of primary female out-of-school children, followed by Punjab’s 30 per cent for the same level.

There are various reasons why a woman in Sindh cannot get an education. These include the purdah system, conservative approaches regarding co-education, less importance granted to the female child and the non-availability of educational facilities. It is a sheer reality that women find it hard to get an education in rural areas, especially Ghotki, Khairpur, Jacobabad and Kashmore as no separate schools are present. They are the victims of violence, as they are not allowed to go outside. They, instead, work and sew clothes at home. Male counterparts don’t want them to get an education, which might help them earn a better position in society. Just to highlight for my readers, District Jacobabad in Province Sindh is infamously at the top of the list for violence against women and honour killings.

The people of Sindh should remember that until and unless children, especially girls, are not educated, things won’t change. On the other hand, the government of Sindh should realise education is the antidote for ignorance, poverty and war. Empowering women is extremely important for interior Sindh. Speaking in a Sindh cabinet meeting in September 2019, the education minister admitted that there were 7,611 shelter-less schools, 10,516 single-room schools and 18,507 two-room schools in rural Sindh. He also admitted that out of the total 49,103 government-run schools, there were 18,660 schools, which were being run by a single teacher.

The government of Sindh should realise education is the antidote for ignorance, poverty and war

During my field investigations and community visits of interior Sindh, I often hear that people link the education of a girl to the ruin of the families’ reputation. Thus, breaking away from the repeated cycles of educational deprivation of women is easier said than done as this is embedded in the structure, norms, culture and values of a society. Few females told me that there were reasons behind them not attending schools. Their parents felt that if their daughters went to school, they would be ruining the family’s reputation. Other concerns included having a “love affair” with someone on the way to or at school and engaging in behaviour considered incongruous within the cultural context. So, not sending a girl to school is considered a way to mitigating the risks. Marrying her early is considered a socially acceptable pathway.

In 2014, the Sindh Assembly unanimously adopted the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, which raised the legal minimum age of marriage for boys and girls to 18 years. It further made the act a punishable offence. A man, above 18 years, who contracts a child marriage, will be imprisoned for three years. Men who solemnised an under-age marriage can also be locked up for two to three years. Even the parents or guardians, who authorised the marriage, can be prosecuted for failing to prevent it. But this law is just on papers. Within the interior Sindh, this practice is going on, but there is no one to stop or question it. Marriage for money is another reason. Some tribes sell out their girls. Another reason for child marriages is social security. As soon as a girl hits puberty, her parents marry her off.

My interactions revealed a variety of factors kept millions of Pakistani children, especially women, out of school. Investments in educational infrastructure must, therefore, be done alongside the creation of an enabling environment, which includes functioning schools, dedicated teachers, safe passage to school, availability of social guidance, and the provision of necessities so that parents don’t have to choose between food and education. These are some key factors that need to be addressed in the education sector reforms. For this purpose, the district government and Sindh Chief Minister should take some concrete actions. This would also help Pakistan make progress towards its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

The writer is a social and political activist based in Lahore. He has done his Masters and MPhil in Communication Studies