Madina Shah, 9, lives in Uchat village of lower Kurram Agency. She gave up studies after completing primary education because there was no middle school for girls in her village.

“I was a position holder in my class. But I couldn’t continue studies after primary school because I cannot access a middle school,” says Ms Shah. In the absence of a middle school in their village, girls have to travel to another area to continue their education. “It is not acceptable to my parents and some other girls of the village,” she says.

Tribal traditions that put much stock in purdah and honour do not favour exposure and mobility of women and girls outside their families and villages.

Besides local socio-cultural obstacles, security concerns also get in the way of female education in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where militants have targeted girl schools in recent years.

Most girls in Fata start going to seminaries owing to absence of schools in their villages

Kurram Agency, where Madina Shah lives, has seen some of the worst incidents of sectarian conflict in recent years, deepening the divide between the local people. Shariful Nisa, a 12-year-old girl from Bagan village in lower Kurram Agency quit education after passing middle school because her village has no high school for girls. “My parents do not feel easy to send me out of village alone to attend school elsewhere,” she says.

Ms Nisa says that there are scores of girls, who give up education due to long distance to schools.

“The government high schools are situated in Sadda and Alizai. Parents are afraid to send their daughters to study in these areas,” she says, adding that government should build high schools in her village.

According to a survey conducted in 2014 by Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SFEA), a non-government organisation that works on girls’ education, population of Fata is estimated to be 3.69 million, of which female population is 1.52 million. Of the total female population, 14.7 per cent of girls between ages three to 13 have never been enrolled in any school.

The overall school enrolment stands at 27 per cent for girls and 73 per cent for boys. “A subsequent decrease was observed in the transition of female students from primary to higher secondary levels from 33 per cent to 13 per cent — the lowest in the country,” says the study.

Mohammad Asghar, who lives in central Kurram Agency, says he wishes he could send his daughters to a school but they are situated a long distance from his village. “In Kurram Agency, people have family feuds and enmities. They can’t send their daughters away from home,” he says. He adds there are no proper transport facilities and security at schools for girls and that’s why girls can’t go to schools other than those in their villages.

Mr Asghar says there is no high school for girls in central Kurram, spread over 250 kilometres. There are 22 primary schools and only nine middle schools in the area.

“All of these schools are situated in a way that they leave out several villages without any middle schools,” he says. Mr Asghar says that many girls in the area have no access to middle schools and due to distance and poverty, parents stop sending their daughters to schools.

Former additional agency educational officer Haji Maeen Gul says that girls from poor families have no access to higher secondary schools in Kurram Agency and elsewhere in Fata.

“Those, who are financially strong, send their boys and girls to Peshawar for further studies. I have also sent my daughters to Peshawar for higher education. If the government facilitates us by building schools for girls in our own villages and towns, most of the girls will continue education and serve their communities.”

Mr Gul says there is not a single high school in several villages of lower Kurram Agency including Bagan, Manduri, Chapri, Uchat, Doll Ragha, Lanha, Poloseen, Pastawana, Chinarak and Manatoo. “In these areas, many girls give up studies every year because of the distance between schools and villages,” he adds.

According to Article 37 of Constitution of Pakistan, it is the responsibility of the state to provide compulsory and free education to all citizens. The 2013-2014 annual statistical report of Directorate of Education, Fata says government policy regarding distance between school and hometown should be 1.5 km.

KhadamHussain, the managing director of Bacha Khan Education Trust, says that capacity of education department in Fata Secretariat is low and there is no policy as such for education in tribal areas because of bad governance.

“Due to hilly areas, parents feel insecure and stop sending their daughter to distant schools. It is the responsibility of Fata Secretariat to provide schools according to the population of the area. If in the village there are 200 to 250 children, there should be a primary school. In the villages where there are more than 500 children, there should be a middle, higher secondary and high school,” he says.

Mr Hussain says if schools are developed according to the population of a particular area, the distance between home and school will be greatly reduced and girls would start going to schools.

“Mostly girls join madressahs because they are close to their homes and can be easily accessed. In madressahs, education is free for children and students learn basic reading and writing,” he says.

Madina Shah has also started going to a madressah in her village. “I feel sad when I see some of my friends from rich families go to schools and continue studies,” she says. She adds that religious education is important but modern education is also necessary.

Ms Shah hopes her family would move to a village that has access to a school.

“A middle school exists in Manduri but it is far from my village Uchat and I can’t go there alone because my family doesn’t allow me,” she adds.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2017