Moalims

The condition of women’s education in Pakistan is miserable. The country has failed to provide good quality, equitable and sufficient education to half of its population. Both, the state and the society, are equally responsible for the sorry state of women’s education in the country. Lack of political will and vision, incompetent and insufficient faculty, poor infrastructure, social and cultural taboos attached with educated women, life threats to school going girls and frequent attacks on the women’s educational institutions in the tribal areas are some of the key factors behind the abysmal state of females education in Pakistan. If the current situation prevails, it will continue unleashing disastrous human, social, economic and political consequences on the state of Pakistan.  However, determined efforts in the way of improving education for women can certainly bring positive results for the country. Political will, vision and commitment, competent and sufficient faculty, implementation of proposals to enhance women’s education as recommended in the National Education Policy 2009, peace in tribal areas and establishment of a state owned educational television network can go a long way in turning the current appalling state of women’s education into a robust education system in the country.
Lack of political will, vision and commitment towards the implementation of educational polices is a major factor behind the sorry state of women’s education in the country. None of the successive governments have realized the grave consequences of not educating half of the population of the country. During the past sixty seven years of its independent life, Pakistan has had nine national education policies, five five-year plans, one free and compulsory education act, a constitutional amendment ( 18th) and dozens of other schemes, seminars and conferences aimed at improving the women education in the country. But, unfortunately, the state of women education in the motherland remains in a shambles. The reason is obvious: “under-implementation” of education policies. One is justified to say that women education has really made a great progress in Pakistan but on papers only.
Also, the poor state of women education in Pakistan is marred by multiple faculty related issues. Lack of a sufficient, well educated, well trained and motivated faculty is marring women education badly. There is almost one teacher available for ninety students. Teaching is not considered a sought after career in our part of the world. The young graduates after trying their luck in almost every other public sector job take up teaching as a last resort. They are not teachers by choice but by a sheer stroke of bad luck. Resultantly, these unmotivated, disenchanted individuals who are quite indifferent to the needs of students fail to make a positive impact on the learning process of the young minds. Moreover, the weak structure of pre-service training facilities of the newly inducted teachers takes its toll on the quality of teaching. Eventually, the entire education system and especially the women education suffer.
Adding fuel to the fire, lack of infrastructure like buildings, libraries, play grounds and furniture is yet another critical factor behind the abysmal state of education of women in the country. Lack of basic facilities in schools such as electricity, clean drinking water and toilets are additional deterrents which make the already bad situation worse. According to Pakistan Education Statistics Report 2012-13, out of 63,914 public schools for girls, 15.3% are without building, 7.1% are kacha schools,61% lack electricity, 42.4% lack latrines, 44.3 % lack boundary walls, 3.8% are declared dangerous while another 16.1% are in need if major repairs. This situation indeed shows nothing but the sheer criminal negligence of the state towards women’s education who make half of the country’s population.
The state of Pakistan undoubtedly, has been unable to provide sufficient, let alone good quality education, to women alone due to many reasons, some of which have already been discussed in the above paras. The Pakistani society too, has contributed in one way or another towards the appalling condition of women’s education in the country. The proceeding paras point out some of the social factors which have deterred the growth of women’s education in the country.
The deep-rooted social and cultural taboos attached with an educated woman are yet another reason behind the perpetual awful condition of the sector in the country. In a chauvinistic society like ours, an educated woman is seen as a threat to the social norms and cultural values. For, with education comes freedom – freedom to choose one’s own life partner. Education enlightens the mind and an enlightened mind questions the very legitimacy of brutal practices such as Vani, Karo kari, honor killing and marriage with The Holy Quran which are quite prevalent in the rural areas of the country. An educated woman knows her rights so she demands her right to inheritance. This is not acceptable in a patriarchal society like Pakistan. Consequently, women are kept away from education.
Also, girls are not sent to schools because parents see no sense in educating their daughters when their primary job is deemed to keep the house clean and raise children. This is partly because of illiteracy among the parents which makes them underestimate the importance of education and partly because of the fear of losing the family honor. Yes, the honor of the family (ghar ki izaat) is associated with girls in the rural areas. The parents think that their daughter might interact with opposite sex while going out to school and thus may cause a great harm to family honor. So, they choose not to send the girls to school in order to save the family honor. This is how social and cultural norms restrict the growth of women’s education in the country.
Closely associated with social and cultural taboos are the very conservative if not wrong interpretations of religious scriptures regarding women’s education by the powerful Molvi Sahb in the rural peripheries. It is a serious deterrent in the growth of women’s education in the country. Unlike the West, where the powers of the Pope have been restricted, Molvi Sahb in our part of the world still enjoys a great influence on the unschooled people. The concept of “Chadar aur Chardewari” which was introduced during the reign of Amir ul Momineen, Hazrat Zia ul Haq, the self-proclaimed messiah of Islam, still prevails. It is yet considered the only criterion by the Molvi Sahb as far as the question of getting education for women is concerned.  That means she cannot go out of the very four walls of the house. She can wear a uniform only that covers every single part of her body except eyes which is not a wise suggestion in this age and time. The prospects of getting higher education for her are equal to none. For, it has to be acquired alongside males and the intermingling of women with men is strictly forbidden in the Islam of a pseudo religious scholar. That means, precisely, no education for women at all! This is terrible.
The frequent attacks on girls’ schools, women universities and a recent surge in the killings of teachers by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in tribal areas has stunted the progress of women’s education in the country. There is a sense of fear and insecurity among the parents of female students. Resultantly, they have stopped sending their daughters to schools. According to the Pakistan Education Statistics Report 2012-13, 60% of the girls’ schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have been severely damaged by terrorist attacks. The situation is worse in seven tribal agencies where Taliban hold a considerable control. The blowing up of the public schools and warning the parents on radio by Taliban not to send their daughters to schools where “Haram” education is given by the “un-Islamic state” of Pakistan is a routine matter in tribal agencies.
The attack on Malala Yousufzai – a sixteen-year-old education activist by Taliban back in October 2012 exposed the sick mindset of the so-called holy warriors of Islam. She was shot right in the head for the crime of promoting education in the area. Though, she has recovered now and has emerged as one of the youngest leaders in the World. However, it is yet to be seen whether she lives up to her promise of promoting education in the tribal areas or not. Given the current state of war there, the chances of improvement in the access and delivery of women’s education are bleak.
The challenge faced by Pakistan is a daunting one. Imagine the future of a country with half of its population illiterate. It is a direct descent into chaos. Nothing more. Nothing less. The issue needs a serious thought by those at the helm of affairs. It has disastrous human, social, economic and political consequences for Pakistan. The economic cost of neglecting the education of the women is equal to a flood every year. The only difference is that it is a self inflicted one. Unemployment among women is rising with every passing day pushing more and more women into the poverty pool.
The growth in population is directly linked with illiteracy of the women. In a country like Pakistan where the population growth rate is already very high when compared with other regional countries, the little knowledge of the contraceptives and other population control measures leaves the women vulnerable to population growth. Moreover, an illiterate mother cannot play a constructive role in the upbringing of the children. Poor orientation of the children means perpetual backwardness of generations after generations!
The social evils like beggary and prostitution are the worst consequences of not promoting education among women. According to a Non Governmental Organization,(NGO) The Aurat Foundation, 90 percent of the women involved in the unethical business of prostitution are absolutely illiterate. It is also unfortunate that women with little literacy are more vulnerable to cruel customs and illegal practices of the society like Vani, Karo Kari, acid throwing, honor killing and denial in the inheritance than those equipped with good education.
Moreover, there is a zero percent chance of Pakistan meeting the United Nations millennium development goal on achieving 100 percent  enrollment at primary level for women. On the other hand, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh are well on their way to achieve the same goal. India’s improvement ratio is ten times than that of Pakistan and Bangladesh is twice that of Pakistan.
But, despite the gloomy situation, determined efforts to improve the abysmal state of women education can certainly bring positive results for Pakistan. The way forward for Pakistan lies in turning the current sorry state of women education into a robust education system. Pragmatic steps like: Political will vision and commitment, implementation of proposals as recommended in the National Education Policy 2009 to improve the state of women education in the country, provision of infrastructure , competent and sufficient faculty, widening the network of educational institutions for women, removal of social and cultural taboos attached with women education, peace in the tribal areas, correct interpretations of religious scriptures by religious scholars, and  establishment of separate public educational  television network for the women will certainly go a long way in achieving a strong education system for women in the country.
To conclude, the sorry state of women education lies at the heart of multiple challenges faced by Pakistan. It is the result of decade’s misplaced priorities and criminal negligence towards underestimating the potential of half of the country’s population. Both the state and the society are equally guilty for providing an inhospitable soil for the growth of women education in the country. It has disastrous human, social, economic and political consequences for Pakistan. The time has come for the political leadership to leave their petty politics of non issues and concentrate on real issues. The time has come to realize that Pakistan’s transition into the global knowledge economy of the 21st century critically depends on improving the state of women’s education and not on incumbent government’s love affair with Red buses and Orange trains. One lives in hope that better sense will prevail among the “Shareefs” and concrete steps will be taken to improve the state of women’s education in the country.

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