Yogender, Sreejit, Gopal. Contribution(33.

33% each) Assignment 1 Gender and Education Education of Girls in Pakistan Introduction Education in general and womens education in particular in Pakistan is a point of note because unlike other countries of the region it has charted a very different and checkered course of development. It has had long periods of instability which can be seen in the context of its educational policies and the commitment towards female education. Recent developments over the past decade especially the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and subsequent international attention over the tribal regions of Pakistan has resulted in much of interest in Education of girls in Pakistan. The Malala incident in which a school student was attacked by the Pakistani Taliban has also attracted much international attention. Pakistan, like its south asian counterparts like India and Bangladesh has definite socialisation processes that affect the education of girls and their subsequent participation in workforce (Chanana 1990). The impact of Socialisation determines - Access to Education: Whether girls attends schools or not - Which School: Co-educational or sex-separate, neighborhood/outside, public/private, expensive/free - How long in School: Number of years spent in Education - How Education help her in her life and work - Subjects chosen in secondary and tertiary education (Chanana 1990)

Historical Timeline of Educational policies in Pakistan Keeping these broad features in mind the following timeline (Bengali 1999) can help us understand the ups and downs on the educational front that the country had to go through: Recommended that universalization of primary education should be achieved within a period of 20 years. Muhammad Ali Jinnah addresses in the NEC: "... there is no doubt that the future of our State will and must greatly depend upon the type of education we give to our children, ... we should not forget that we have to compete with the world which is moving very fast in this direction. The Conference formed primary and secondary education First National Education Conference 1947

committees that considered it essential that a national system of education should be based on the strong foundations of free and compulsory primary education. It proposed separate preprimary and primary education stages for children of ages 3 to 6 and 6 to 11, respectively. It also took account of and dwelt on the problems of medium of instruction, teacher training, physical education, etc. A six-year National Plan of Educational Development for the period 1951-57. The Plan was presented as the first deliberate effort to anticipate and provide for our requirements in the various fields of education for a period of six years. The principal constraint identified was that of lack of trained teachers. A system of universal primary education is imperative... A universal system of free and compulsory primary education, including for girls, was expected to be in place in about twenty years, i.e., by about 1975 to 1980. Target of achieving compulsory universal enrolment in 15 years, i.e., by 1975, was specified. National Plan of Educational Development 1951-57

First Five Year Plan

1955-60

Report of the Commission on National Education Second Five Year Plan

1959

The education of girls received special attention. It was stated that of the 4.7 million children presently attending primary schools, only 1.1 million are girls... admitting girls to more of the existing primary schools, and by ensuring that where separate facilities are required a much larger proportion is assigned to schools for girls. Widening the base of primary education and proposed to increase the primary enrolment rate from 45 to 70 per cent in 1970. This implied additional enrolment of 2.8 million children in primary schools by 1970. To this end, 42,500 new schools were proposed to be set up in West Pakistan. The Policy aimed at free and universal enrolment up to Class V by 1980, with particular stress on girls education.

1960-65

Third Five Year Plan

1965-70

The New Education Policy

1970

1972 National Census revealed literacy rates as follows rural 22.6 4.7 14.3 Urban 49.9 30.9 41.5 Total 30.2 11.6 21.7 Male Female Total In %

A target of establishing 2,76,000 literacy centres to educate 11 million persons was fixed for the period 1972-80. The 1972 Policy was overtaken somewhat mid-stream by the military coup d'etat in 1977, leading to significant shift in priorities. High priority to rapid expansion in girls education. "Enrolment of girls is expected to increase at the rate of 9.6 per cent per annum as against 7 per cent for boys.... The enrolment of girls will be increased by 9.95 lac or from 33 per cent to 45 per cent, A 9-point statement of "National Aims of Education" and a 12-point implementation strategy. The Implementation Programme was ambitious and proposed, mainly, to achieve universal Class I enrolment of boys by 1987 and of girls by 1992 and to achieve 60 percent retention rate by 1983 and 100 percent thereafter. To evolve strategies of formal and non-formal mass approaches for the purposes of eradication of illiteracy and promotion of functional literacy; Records that thirty-five years after independence, Pakistan has a literacy rate below 25 per cent and less than half the primary schools going age children are in schools. Nai Roshni Schools to be setup over the period 198690. Fifth Five Year Plan 1978-83

National Education Policy and Implementation Programme

1979

Literacy and Mass Education Commission Sixth Five Year Plan

1981

1983-88

Nationwide Literacy Programme

1986-90

About 40 per cent of the children do not have access to education in the age group of 5 to 9 years. About 29,000 primary schools have no buildings and 16,000 schools have only one class room... Rural primary schools are beset with a shortage of trained and qualified female teachers... In rural areas, enrolment of girls is about one third of that of boys ... a high dropout rate. aimed at opening non-formal education to nongovernmental organizations; achieving 100% literacy in selected districts; setting up model schools (male and female) in rural areas; introducing compulsory social service for students; using general schools as technical schools in the evening shift to capture the drop-outs of general education. Almost half of girls and one-fifths of boys of the relevant age group (5-9) are not enrolled in primary school; the adult literacy rate is still barely 35 percent." Focussed on universalization of primary education... Proposed to construct 190,000 new formal primary schools, 250,000 non-formal basic education centres, and 57,000 mosque schools, upgrade 60,000 primary schools, begin double shifts in 20,000 existing primary schools, and recruit 527,000 additional teachers. Necessary resources were also been pledged at the highest level to raise the expenditure on education from 2.2 to 4 percent of GNP

Seventh Five Year Plan

1988-93

National Education Policy

1992

Eighth Five Year Plan 1993-98

National Education Policy

98-2010

A review of the history of educational planning in Pakistan shows that setting targets, bemoaning the failure to achieve the same, and setting new targets with unqualified optimism has been a continuing game policy makers have played ad nauseam and at great public expense over the last 50 years. Differences in the hues and shades of various governments -- be it civilian or military, elected or otherwise, socialist or Islamic -- has made little difference to the manner in which the game has been played. And the results show that there has been a signal lack of political commitment to literacy or education.

2008 3.30

2007 2006 2004 3.70 3.40 3.40

2002

Indicator Name

4.20 Labor force with secondary education, female (%

of female labor force) Labor force with secondary education, male (% 12.50 of male labor force) Labor force with secondary education (% of 11.20 total) Labor force with tertiary education, female (% of 15.80 female labor force) Labor force with tertiary education, male (% of 23.40 male labor force) 22.20 Labor force with tertiary education (% of total)

13.70 13.50 13.40 12.70

11.60 11.60 11.50 11.10

12.00 13.10 14.10 15.00

28.40 27.00 25.80 25.10 25.10 24.20 23.50 23.30 (from http://data.worldbank.org/)

As can be seen from the above data, GDP in Education has grown over the years. During 19982010 policy the Govt. of Pakistan is looking towards an ambitious goal of putting 4 % of GDP in education but almost mirroring its big neighbour, could not go beyond 2.70 percent till 2009. () Literacy rates are shown pushing upwards over the years and despite political instability no significant fluctuations or any dramatic surge in literacy rates is visible. Though enrollment at primary levels for both boys and girls have shown exceptional progress as one approaches recent years data. the girls education has been consistently on the lower side compared to boys. one important reason being the lack of infrastructure and personnel. the non availability of female teachers in rural areas has been particularly marked and has been noted oin policy documents repeatedly. The participation of women in the labor force is significantly lower than men across all three levels (primary, secondary and tertiary) of education.

Data from the last decade Now, we will look at some recent data over the first decade of the 21st century, the data is mainly derived from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS 2011). Out of School Children and Adolescents

As the data shows there has not been significant drop in the number of out of school children or adolescents, this in the decade when there has been significant investment in terms of the National Policy of Education and also international funding in the backdrop of the Afghanistan war. Here too, the number of girls out of school is higher by a good margin.

GER and NER for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Education

The data above shows that Pakistan is almost there in terms of universal education in the primary stage if one looks at the Gross Enrollment figures. But, the Net enrollment figure is still low at nearly 70%, but there has been a steady increase in the last decade, the female GER is still 10% lower than the male. The same pattern continues in secondary and tertiary education. As the progression data shows the survival rate of children even in primary is significantly low and there is some 20% dropout here.

The Gender Parity Index does show the differences between urban and rural Pakistan wherein in urban Punjab we can see more females than males in schools whereas it is lowest in Balochistan rural. More than gender parity if we look at actual percentage figures that have gone into the secondary school net attendance ratio of females one can see that it is as low as 4.3 percent in lowest wealth quartile index to as high as 57 percent in the highest wealth quartile index. So we can see the stark difference in education levels due to contrasts of wealth. Mothers education is also a big contributory factor where there is none, only 18 percent attended secondary school, whereas if had higher education for mothers in Balochistan, 78 percent girls attended secondary school

Processes: 1) Education of boys is prioritized 2) Education is not perceived as being important for girls 3) Acknowleged number of child labourers in the country are 3.3 million of which 0.9 million are women. 4) Withdrawal of girl child because they are often vulnerable and their work is often hidden. 5) Girl child in Pakistan are often denied access to education and suffer from exploitative labour and special protection 6) Traditional customs and practices accord a subordinate status to women 7) Social and religious strictures are often quoted out of context to further undervalue the need for educating girls 8) Religious education or few years of schooling is considered to be enough for girls 9) In many communities girls are removed out of school often at the primary level 10) Restrictions on the mobility of girls is the most common means of tacking sexual security 11) Girls are seen as a burden, a liability whose education is not likely to benefit the family immediately. 12) Increased migration is having a negative impact on the enrolment of both boys and girls in schools. 13) Economic constraints direct parental choices to favour their sons instead of their daughters for schooling 14) Who will do the work at home if the girl goes to school. such choices offloading the girl childs aspirations of school by reducing her to person whom partakes in the labour at home is a example of how opportunity cost of sending daughters to school serves as constraints. 15) Opportunity costs increase when the girl becomes 12 or older. 16) Not enough women teachers. Barriers to female mobility prevent educated women from relocating or commuting to localities with teaching jobs

Structures: 1) Home is the ideological and physical space for a woman in Pakistan 2) Household resources are allocated in favor of sons. 3) Society doesnt allow girls to develop thier capabilities 4) Gender division has been internalised by society 5) Patriarchial values are deeply embedded into society 6) Dominant feudal, tribal and patriarchal power structures are detrimental to the interest of the girl child 7) Adolescence is seen as the cut of age for allowing girls to remain in school in rural and remote communities. 8) Preference for schools near homes is directly related to safety issues for girls

9) Acceptance of informal institutions of learning is also directly involved with dealing with safety issues 10) Poverty promotes the most virulent forms of patriarchal control 11) The rural urban divide is striking as the gender gap is largely a rural phenomenon. 12) Sectarianism and fundamentalism also affects girls education 13) Fundamentalism affects availability of female teachers, functioning of schools and education in general 14) In rural and suburban areas women are situated at the bottom end of the educational system Conclusion - Analysis of the social context As in the rest of south asia, various kinds of patriarchies, the feudal, tribal and community, play a vital role in determining how much opportunity the girls would have in the educational landscape fo the country. Education for boys is prioritized because boys are seen as the capital that can bring the family forward. Consequently, the education is not perceived as being important for girls. This is more at a social level than at the governmental level. In families of low income, rural areas and where mothers education is minimal, the problem can be seen more starkly. Number of child labourers in the country are more than 3.3 million, of which 0.9 million are girls. In World Bank Data children in work only, constituted 88.9 % of the total population of children in employment and 11.1% were children in employment engaged in both study and work. of these a huge number of them are girls. Withdrawal of girl child because they are often considered vulnerable in outside world and hence pushed into home based or domestic works consequently their work remains largely hidden. Due to this, girls are often denied access to education and suffer from exploitative labour conditions. As stated in the beginning, traditional customs and practices accord a subordinate status to women. strong social and religious strictures further undervalue the need for educating girls. Religious education or few years of schooling is considered to be enough for girls. In many communities girls are removed out of school often at the primary level. Especially in rural areas where there are not enough secondary schools exclusively for schools in the neighbourhood. As the country has 32 percent of population below poverty line, the economic constraints direct parental choices to favour their sons instead of their daughters for schooling who will do the work at home. This shows how opportunity cost of sending daughters to school serves as constraints. entry into adolescence, lack of a proper school in the neighbourhood, lack of female teachers partially due to religious fundamentalist influences, and girls being seen as repositories of honour are costly barriers for girls in their quest for better and adequate educational opportunities.

References

1) Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Government of Balochistan, Government of Punjab, Unicef 2) Issues of gender in education in Pakistan ~ Fareeha Zafar 3) The World Bank Indicators. data.worldbank.org 4) Kaiser Bengal (1999), History of Educational Policy Making. 5) UIS 2011, UNESCO Institute of Statistics, http://www.uis.unesco.org/Pages/default.aspx 6) Chanana, Karuna (1990), Structures and Ideologies: Socialisation and Education of the Girl Child in South Asia, The Indian J. Soc.Sci., 3(1), pp.53-71, 1990 7) A future of girls education in Pakistan Unesco

Appendices Terminologies and Definitions

Literacy Rate, youth female(% of females aged 15 to 24) Youth (15-24) literacy rate (%). Female is the number of females age 15 to 24 years who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on their everyday life, divided by the female population in that age group. Generally, literacy also encompasses numeracy, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. Ratio of youth literate females to males(%of females age 15 to 24) Gender parity index for youth literacy rate is the ratio of female youth literacy rate to male youth literacy rate. It is calculated by dividing the female value for the indicator by the male value for the indicator. A GPI equal to 1 indicates parity between females and males. In general, a value less than 1 indicates disparity in favor of males and a value greater than 1 indicates disparity in favor of females. Literacy rate, adult female(% of females age 15 than above) Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). Female is the percentage of females age 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, literacy also encompasses numeracy, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of female literates aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100. Ratio of female to male primary enrollment Ratio of female to male primary enrollment is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at primary level in public and private schools. Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education(%) Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at primary and secondary levels in public and private schools. Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%) Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment is the percentage of girls to boys enrolled at secondary level in public and private schools. School enrollment, preprimary (% gross) Gross enrolment ratio. Pre-primary. Total is the total enrollment in pre-primary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the total population of official pre-primary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school entrance and grade repetition.

School enrollment, preprimary, female (% gross) Gross enrolment ratio. Pre-primary. Female is the total female enrollment in pre-primary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the total female population of official pre-primary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school entrance and grade repetition. Primary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group) Primary completion rate. Female is the total number of new female entrants in the last grade of primary education, regardless of age, expressed as percentage of the total female population of the theoretical entrance age to the last grade of primary. This indicator is also known as "gross intake rate to the last grade of primary." The ratio can exceed 100% due to over-aged and under-aged children who enter primary school late/early and/or repeat grades. Primary education, pupils (%female) Percentage of female students. Primary is the number of female students at the primary level expressed as a percentage of the total number of students (male and female) at the primary level in a given school year. School enrollment, primary, female (%gross) Gross enrolment ratio. Primary. Female is the total female enrollment in primary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the female population of official primary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school entrance and grade repetition. Persistence to grade 5, female (% of cohort) Survival rate to grade 5. Female is the share of female children enrolled in the first grade of primary school who eventually reach grade 5. The estimate is calculated on the basis of the reconstructed cohort method, which uses data on enrolment and repeaters for two consecutive years.he Trained teachers in primary education, female (% of female teachers) Percentage of trained teachers. Primary. Female is the number of female teachers who have received the minimum organized teacher training (pre-service or in-service) required for teaching at the primary level in the given country, expressed as a percentage of the total number of female teachers at the primary level. Progression to secondary school (% female) Transition from primary (ISCED 1) to secondary (ISCED 2), general programmes (%). Female is the number of new female entrants to the first grade of secondary education (general

programmes only) in a given year, expressed as a percentage of the number of female pupils enrolled in the final grade of primary education in the previous year.