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| Alarming
situation of education in Pakistan |
| By Aamir
Latif of Pakistan Press International reports |
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 The
picture of illiteracy in Pakistan is grim. Although successive
governments have announced various programmes to promote
literacy, especially among women, they have been unable
to translate their words into action because of various
political, social and cultural obstacles.
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Pakistani
girl and the joy of learning
© Aamir Latif
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| Official
statistics released by the Federal Education Ministry of Pakistan
give a desperate picture of education for all, espcially for
girls. The overall literacy rate is 46 per cent, while only
26 per cent of girls are literate. Independent sources and educational
experts, however, are sceptical. They place the overall literacy
rate at 26 per cent and the rate for girls and women at 12 per
cent, contending that the higher figures include people who
can handle little more than a signature. There are 163,000 primary
schools in Pakistan, of which merely 40,000 cater to girls.
Of these, 15,000 are in Punjab Province, 13,000 in Sind, 8,000
in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and 4,000 in Baluchistan.
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| Similarly,
out of a total 14,000 lower secondary schools and 10,000 higher
secondary schools, 5,000 and 3,000 respectively are for girls,
in the same decreasing proportions as above in the four provinces.
There are around 250 girls colleges, and two medical colleges
for women in the public sector of 125 districts. Some 7 million
girls under 10 go to primary schools, 5.4 million between 10
and 14 attend lower secondary school, and 3 million go to higher
secondary schools. About 1.5 million and 0.5 million girls respectively
go to higher secondary schools/colleges and universities.
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| Alarming
situation in rural areas |
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| The
situation is especially alarming in rural areas due to social
and cultural obstacles. One of the most deplorable aspects is
that in some places, particularly northern tribal areas, the
education of girls is strictly prohibited on religious grounds.
This is a gross misinterpretation of Islam, the dominant religion
in Pakistan (96 per cent of the population), which like all
religions urges men and women to acquire education. |
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| The
situation is the most critical in NWFP and Baluchistan, where
the female literacy rate stands between 3 per cent and 8 per
cent. Some government organizations and non-governmental organizations
have tried to open formal and informal schools in these areas,
but the local landlords, even when they have little or nothing
to do with religion or religious parties, oppose such measures,
apparently out of fear that people who become literate will
cease to follow them with blind faith. Unfortunately, the government
has not so far taken any steps to promote literacy or girls=
education in these areas. It is even reluctant to help NGOs
or other small political or religious parties do the job, because
in order to maintain control, it needs the support of these
landlords and chieftains who, as members of the two major political
parties, are regularly elected to the national assembly. |
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| "I
want to go to school to learn but I cannot because my parents
do not allow me to do so," said 9-year old Palwasha, who has
visited the biggest city of Pakistan, Karachi, with her parents
and seen girls like herself going to school. She lives in a
village located in Dir district (NWFP), where education for
girls does not exist. "We have only one school for boys," she
said, adding, Aone of my friends goes school, but she is now
in Peshawar (capital city of NWFP)". |
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| Work
but no school |
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| Poverty
is also a big hurdle in girls' education. According to UNICEF,
17.6 per cent of Pakistani children are working and supporting
their families. Indeed, children working as domestic help is
a common phenomenon in Pakistan, and this sector employs more
girls than boys. |
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| "Khanzadi,
[a 10-year old girl with blue eyes working in a rich neighbourhood
of Karachi] is lucky she's with us, her mistress says "We can
spare some food and help her grow". But Khanzadi is miserable.
Every day when she sees girls like herself going to school she
becomes restless, but she has to stay in the house and do all
the work. |
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| Jamila,
11, also works as a domestic servant. At first her job was only
to look after the baby , but as she grew older , the other servant
in charge of housecleaning and cooking was dismissed and Jamila
was asked to do all the work. "I want to go to school like other
children, but my parents can't afford it. So I have to work
and help support my family, she said. |
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| In
big cities and towns, people are joining together to send their
daughters to school. In any case, because of better facilities,
girls' literacy is higher in big cities such as Karachi, Lahore,
Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Gujranwala, Peshawar
and Quetta. |
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| Ray
of hope |
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| Even
though there is a lack of concern on the part of government
to promote girls' education, some religious groups, political
parties and NGOs are working actively to do so despite all barriers.
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| Alkhidmat,
a countrywide NGO, is running almost 100 non-formal schools
in small villages of Sind, Baluchistan and NWFP Provinces, where
not merely girls but adult women are admitted for basic primary
education. |
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| "We
think women's education is equally important. When women become
literate, they can build a better nation, said Mrs Abida Farheen,
a graduate of Karachi university and the head of Alkhidmat's
education wing. |
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| In Sind
province, NAZ, a Khairpur-based NGO, is running fifty formal
and non-formal girls' schools in the city's outskirts; the NGO
Resource Center, a Karachi-based organisation, is operating
scores of girls' schools while Green Crescent, another Karachi-based
NGO, is running twenty non-formal schools for girls in villages
throughout the province. In Punjab, the Al-Ghazali Education
Trust, a Lahore-based organization, is operating some 200 formal
and non-formal schools, mostly for girls and women, all over
the province. |
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| Government
efforts |
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| The ousted
government of Nawaz Sharif had introduced the idea of non-formal
education for women throughout the country. To do this, he had
established the prime minister's literacy commission and was
preparing to set up some 100,000 non-formal schools for girls
and women. But now the project is in the doldrums because of
the change of government and continuing political instability
is seriously jeopardizing its future. Nonetheless, some 1,500
non-formal schools for girls and women, set up under former
prime minister Benazir Bhutto and President Zia ul-Haq, continue
to function in rural areas. |
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| Although
the media have played an effective role in convincing people
to send their daughters to schools, the situation remains dramatic
in the villages and small towns where almost 70 per cent of
the country's population resides. |
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Girls are being taught at a non-formal school at Lyari,
one of Pakistans densely populated and low-income areas
© Aamir Latif |
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