March 08, 2009

Girls’ education is an important step towards breaking the shackles of poverty as uneducated women do not have the means to contribute productively to the society

Naseem had just completed fourth year in school when she was pulled out. After all, four years of education seemed adequate for a girl who would eventually be spending her life tending to the family which would not need school education, or so her parents felt.

Today, Naseem is a mother of six, and works in people’s homes as maid so that she can earn enough to educate her children in an English medium school. She is determined that her children — specially her daughters — should be equipped to improve their social standing in society, something she is unable to do due to lack of schooling.

And then there is Mumtaz. Belonging to the lowest of the lower strata, Mumtaz has more mouths to feed than the food she brings home. With an unemployed husband, Mumtaz’s dreams of educating her children have long been shelved. Now her daughters are repeating their mother’s story as they toil morning, noon and night helping her to make ends meet. With no education to help them get a better job, they find it impossible to escape this vicious circle of life.

One of the many tragedies of Pakistan is its crippled education sector, particularly when it comes to female education. Despite going almost halves with men population-wise, few women in our society are empowered enough to represent their cause in matters of importance, whether domestic or otherwise. In fact, given the clichéd moulds — mothers, daughters, wives and sisters — that most girls and women are crafted into, it is no surprise that they still live in a time warp.

Notwithstanding the efforts, a number of NGOs and other bodies are putting into educating women, their illiteracy level remains abysmally low. Around two-third of the country’s womenfolk remain uneducated, resulting in a sizeable group that remains stagnant in its approach towards life in general. Such women do not have the means to contribute productively to the society and at times even their household.

Obviously, in such a scenario where such an important segment is being refused entry into mainstream workforce, the worst possible impact will inevitably be poverty. In this age of inflation where a single income evaporates into thin air by mid month, it becomes imperative for a woman to step forward and do her bit. But with various mental barriers — by both men and women — this is not an easy path. Add to it the atrocities like those in Swat valley, which are becoming a dangerous fodder for minds already fed with pre-conceived ideas and roles that a woman should play in this society — education in women has suffered.

To go into the factors of illiteracy in women would be clichéd; the subject has been repeated ad nauseam, with no significant results. But the matter cannot be solved in isolation either, and even though most factors have remained the same, the authorities need to come up with a realistic path towards literacy in women and young girls

Perhaps the biggest handicap we face in educating women is the dominantly patriarchal society that we live in. Few people realise that when given an opportunity, school girls in general tend to outperform their male counterparts with a visible lead, since they have to prove their worth and decision. Fortunately, certain NGOs have made inroads and are now actively involved in educating women and young girls in cities, small towns and remote areas.

The result is that families, and particularly men, have become more open to the idea of educating their girls. In fact, according to Rehana Mughni, advisor for adult education programme in Sindh Education Foundation, a majority of families in cities are willing to send their girls to schools, budget permitting. There maybe a gender bias — parents favour higher and better education for boys — but this is nevertheless an improved situation.

It is in the remote areas and villages that the problem bubbles, says Mughni. Most families do not foresee the need to send girls to school, and the drop-out rate in the villages is comparatively high. The dominant feudal mind-set, coupled with the everyday struggles of the lower strata to stay above sustenance level, has proved to be a roadblock in making inroads.

Even in cities, mothers from the lower strata are either unwilling or unable to educate their girls since they need them to assist as housemaids. In a country where child labour is not given a second thought, girls as young as six years old are playing assistant to their mothers who work as maids. Their priority is not education; their need is food, shelter and clothes, and for them, poverty is as much a cause as a result of illiteracy. But granted, this is an unavoidable situation of sorts, we need to find other ways to educate such girls. Mughni suggests evening schools where if the girls spend even a couple of hours everyday, it will do them a world of good.

While this can be done at a very philanthropic level, this cannot be done in isolation. A far greater onus falls on the government. Unfortunately, they too have failed miserably with the federal government passing on the job to the provinces, which claim that they have no budget to work on. According to Mughni, we need economic reforms, political will and revolutionary steps to bring a real change in thought process as well as action. However, until the government sorts out these issues, volunteer work to make women aware can take care of at least a part of the problem.