Breaking Barriers, Improving Futures Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan Juan D. Barón, Mary Bend, Neelam Ejaz, Jessica D. Lee, and Iva Trako May 2024 1 Breaking Barriers, Improving Futures Introduction Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan 2 AC KNOWLEDG EMENTS We would like to thank Lauren Dahlin, Koen Despite substantial progress Martijn Geven, Fahad Mirza, Abdal Mufti, and Ahmed Raza for providing us with several data sources. The team gratefully acknowledges all the in educational opportunities, comments and suggestions from Keiko Inoue, Toby Linden, Cristian gender disparities remain. Aedo, Maria Qazi, Cristina Panasco, Lire Ersado, Patricia Fernandes, Mirai Marou, Amena Raja, Kimberly Versak, Maria B. Orlando, Uzma Qureshi, 3 Leandro Costa, Raja Bentaouet Kattan, Shobhana Sosale, Seo Yeon Hong, Maryam Akmal, Ariana M. Del Mar Grossi, Sana Isa, Nimra Afzal, Nimra Tariq, Maryem Rahim, José Mola, and Miriam Muller. The team greatly benefited from productive discussions with government officials The five main challenges from provincial education departments and the Ministry of Federal to girls' education in Pakistan. Education and Professional Training. We also thank development partners and the Pakistan Education team, in particular, Maliha Hyder, What can policymakers do? Izza Farrakh, Shahram Paksima, Elena Roseo, Manal Quota, and Inga 4 Afanasieva. This report was supported by generous funding from the Gates Human Capital Project Multi-Donor Trust Fund. DISC L AIME R This work is a product of the staff of the World Bank with external Additional contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do impacts to girls’ not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the education data included in this work and does not assume responsibility for any errors, omissions, or discrepancies in the information, or liability with respect to the use of or failure to use 5 the information, methods, processes, or conclusions set forth. The boundaries, colors, denominations, links/footnotes, and other information shown in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The citation of works authored by others does not mean the World Bank endorses the views expressed by those authors or the content of their works. Conclusion AT TRIBUTION Please cite the work as follows: Barón, Juan D., Mary Bend, Neelam Ejaz, Jessica D. Lee, and Iva Trako. 2024. Breaking Barriers, Improving Futures: Challenges and Solutions for Girls' Education in Pakistan. Washington, DC: World Bank. 1 Introduction Educating girls has a myriad of benefits ranging from greater empowerment and economic opportunities to improved health outcomes and reduced poverty. In Pakistan, school-age children, especially girls, lack quality educational access and attainment. 3 LIMITED LEARNING AND GIRLS OUT OF SCHOOL Girls, in comparison to boys, are less likely to be enrolled in school, less likely to stay in school, and less likely to achieve learning A child in Pakistan who starts outcomes even if they attend school. school at age 4 can expect Girls from rural areas suffer the worst educational outcomes and are to complete only 4.8 years the most susceptible to factors such as poverty and sociocultural beliefs that prevent girls and women in Pakistan from completing of actual learning over the their education. course of their education.1 One of the biggest challenges Pakistan faces is that the country’s education spending fails to yield results regarding quality and access. In 2020, it spent 2.3 percent of GDP on education, notably below the South Asian regional average of 2.9 percent and the global average of 4.3 percent.3 In addition, human and financial resources are not directed where they are most needed to improve quality and access to education. Approximately 70 percent of the budget is allocated to salaries and only around 10 percent to development, which is often not fully utilized.4 Pakistan also has some of the The low amount of resource allocation coupled with poor learning highest numbers of out-of- outcomes decreases parents’ desire to send their children to public school children (OOSC) in the school. For children, in particular girls, to succeed in school, Pakistan must increase efficiency of spending and total expenditure on world, especially among girls, education (see Spend Better, Spend More: How to Make Education who constitute 54 percent of Expenditures Impactful for Children in Pakistan for more information). OOSC.2 BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Introduction 4 This report identifies and recommends ways to address the five main challenges to girls’ education in Pakistan: 5 km Rs 20 10 5 1 2 3 4 5 Poverty An insufficient A shortage of Social beliefs A low quality and lack of number of middle trained and around gender educational investment in and secondary qualified teachers, roles and environment education schools for girls particularly female expectations to attend teachers in rural areas BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Introduction 5 This report argues that while it is important to This report aims to look at available national-level data, along with the existing province/location-focused research, to try to continue to deliver quality education to all children in present a stronger overall picture of the state of girls’ education Pakistan, more girl-specific interventions are needed in Pakistan than what is currently available. Much of the existing in Pakistan, especially for girls living in rural areas. evidence on girls’ education in Pakistan is qualitative and focuses on specific locales or provinces, such as rural areas, or on specific topics Research shows that general interventions targeted to improve such as OOSC. Data sources on education statistics in Pakistan access and learning for all students have comparable results to are varied and often incomplete; information about these data those that only target girls. However, policy makers need more sources and additional analysis can be found as part of this report's evidence to better understand the unique benefits of girl-specific, supplementary material. This report explores the connections rather than general, interventions.5 This report provides evidence between topics that affect girls, which includes identifying areas to show how girls continue to face greater challenges and barriers where more data and research are needed. It should also be than their boy counterparts with regard to educational opportunity. noted that this report will not fully examine either early childhood It provides recommendations that, in the Pakistani context, policy development or skills development and labor force participation; makers could use to target interventions for girls, especially since instead, it will focus on the primary drivers in basic education and service delivery and policies are often gender-segregated, e.g., the five main barriers to quality education for girls in Pakistan. there are differences between resources provided to girls’ schools in comparison to boys’ schools. In addition, the report presents a framework that assesses recommendations based on their direct benefit to girls, cost effectiveness, impact, and sustainability. The framework is informed by the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel’s Cost-effective Approaches to Improve Global Learning and the World Bank’s Learning Recovery to Acceleration: A Global Update on Country Efforts to Improve Learning and Reduce Inequalities. SECTION NOTES 1 Ersado et al., 2023. 2 Pak Alliance for Maths and Science, n.d. 3 Barón et al, forthcoming. 4 Barón et al, forthcoming. 5 Evans and Yuan, 2019. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Introduction 6 2 Despite substantial progress in educational opportunities, gender disparities remain. Pakistan faces significant challenges in education. Despite overall increases in enrollment rates, the gender gap in enrollment persists. Pakistan has among the highest number of out-of-school children (OOSC) in the world, as well as many children who have never been enrolled in school. Among students who enter school, the dropout rates remain high and learning progress is slow. While the data vary across provinces, the Pakistani education system continues to struggle to get children, especially girls, into school, keep them in school, and ensure that they achieve learning outcomes while in school. 7 Enrollment for both boys and girls has significantly Figure 2. The gender gap in gross enrollment over time increased in Pakistan.   Boys  Girls According to the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Primary (ages 5–10) (PSLM) survey, the gross enrollment rates increased 8 percentage 76% 75% 76% 77% 73% points, from 60 percent in 2004–05 to 68 percent in 2019–20.1 Net enrollment excludes children who are older than the target enrollment 68% 65% 66% 70% 66% age (figure 1). In 2019–20, gross enrollment exceeded net enrollment by 35 percentage points in middle school. This shows that there are many over aged children enrolled in primary school, these children are between the ages of 11 and 13, which is the typical age of students at Primary (ages 5–10) 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2017–18 2019–20 the middle school level. Net enrollment decreases as education level rises, from 61 percent at the primary level, to 37 percent at the middle Middle (ages 11–13) school level, and 32 percent at the secondary school level. Figure 1 also 78% 77% 79% 77% 76% 77% that despite an shows increase in enrollment 77% 77% for both genders, girls 73% 73%72% 70% continue 72% 70% in enrollment across72% to lag behind boys 70% grade levels. % 66% 65% 66% 65% 65% 62% 60% 64% 65% 59% 61% 61% 61% Figure 1. Net and gross enrollment for boys and girls across grade 64% 64% 55% 55% 55% 61% levels, 2019–20 61% 61% 49% 49% 49% % 57% 57%   Boys net/gross   Girls net/gross   Overall net/gross 2011–12 Middle (ages 11–13) 2013–14 2015–16 2017–18 2019–20 40% 40% 77%77% 77% 40% Secondary (ages 14–16) 73% 73% 73% 37% 34%70% 70% 70% 72% 35%37% 35% 37% 72% 34% 72% 34% 35% 61% 61% 66% 66% 66% 32% 32% 32% 60% 59% 58% 65% 65% 65% 28% 28% 28% 61% 61%61% 64% 64% 64% 55% 55% 55% 44% 45% 49% 61% 61% 61% 42% 40% 57% 57% 57% 49% 49%49% Middle Primary (ages 5 (ages –10) Primary 11 –13) (ages Middle 5 –10) (ages 11 –13) (ages Secondary Middle 14 –16)(ages 11 –13) Secondary –16)Secondary (ages 14 (ages 14 –16) 2011–12 Secondary (14–16) 2013–14 2015–16 2017–18 2019–20 Gross Boys NetBoys Girls Gross GrossBoys Net Girls NetGross Boys Girls 40% 40% 40% Overall Gross Boys Net Girls Net Gross Girls OverallGross Overall Net Gross Overall Girls Net Net Gross Overall Net Overall 37% 37% 37% 35%35% 35% Source: PSLM, 2011–12 through 2019–20. 34% 34% 34% 32% 32%32% 28% 28% 28% Though enrollment rates have improved, a gender gap persists across school levels. As of 2017, there were 63 million children in Pakistan between the ages of 5 and 16.2 Of these school-age children, 48 million boys (75 percent) were enrolled in school, compared to 41 million Primary (ages Primary Primary (ages (ages –10) 5 –10) Primary 5 5–10) (ages 5–10) Middle Middle Middle(ages (ages (ages –13) 11 Middle – 11 13) –13) 11–13) Secondary 11 (ages Secondary (ages Secondary(ages (ages Secondary –16) 14 14–16) 14–16) 14 –16) (ages girls (64 percent).3 As shown in figure 2, the gap in gross enrollment Boys Boys Boys Gross Gross GrossBoys Boys Boys Net Net Girls Girls NetGirls Gross Gross GrossGirls Girls Girls Net NetOverall Net Overall OverallGross Gross Gross Overall Overall Net Overall Net Net Source: PSLM 2019–20. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Gender disparities 8 between boys and girls remained fairly constant between 2011–12 Figure 3. Gross enrollment, by age and gender and 2019–20 for primary-school-age children and middle-school-age children. At the primary school age, the gross enrollment for boys 100 was 76 percent in 2011–12 and 73 percent in 2019–20, while for girls of   Boys 86% 85% the same age, enrollment was 68 percent in 2011–12 and 66 percent 81%  Girls in 2019–2020. Middle school enrollment also remained relatively 80 77% consistent with boys enrolled at 78 percent in 2011–12 and 77 percent 77% in 2019–2020, and girls enrolled at 62 percent and 65 percent, for the 73% 76% 65% same years, respectively. The gap in enrollment at the secondary level 60 64% decreased during that same time, with the share of girls enrolling in 52% school increasing from 44 percent to 49 percent, and boys from 60 52% 45% percent to 61 percent, respectively. 42% 40 42% 31% Girls are less likely to be enrolled in school than boys, especially after primary school. Across all ages, girls are less likely to be enrolled in school than boys of the same age (figure 3). However, enrollment 20 26% rates for boys and girls drop after age 11. At age 11, 76 percent of girls and 85 percent of boys are enrolled in school. At 14 years of age, the enrollment rate falls to 56 percent for girls, but the enrollment rate 0 for boys remains above 70 percent. Overall, an 11-year-old girl is 9 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in school than a boy, and Source: PSLM 2019–20. 13 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in school by age 13. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Gender disparities 9 At all levels of schooling, there are variations in enrollment over B. Middle school (ages 11–13) time and across provinces. Figure 4 shows enrollment rates over KP Punjab time and the four main provinces of Pakistan. Punjab and Sindh are the most populous provinces. Balochistan is the largest province 88% 86% 86% 88% 88% 81% 80% 78% 79% 80% in land area, but it is predominantly rural and sparsely populated. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is the fourth most populous province. 75% 75% 60% 67% 67% 69% Overall, school enrollment is characterized by higher rates in 57% 57% 56% 58% Punjab and KP, and lower rates for Balochistan and Sindh. Over the last 10 years in Balochistan, girls’ enrollment has been consistently 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 lower than 50 percent. In KP and Sindh, the gap between the enrollment of girls and boys has remained largely unchanged over Sindh Balochistan time, irrespective of age or grade level. While Sindh has some of the worst indicators in education, education improvements in this 68% 69% 73% 75% 74% 65% 67% 64% 60% 65% province would likely lead to national-level improvements. 55% 50% 49% 52% 52% Figure 4. Gross enrollment, over time and by province 40% 36% 40% 30% 34% A. Primary school (ages 5–10)   Boys 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20  Girls KP Punjab C. Secondary school (ages 14–15) KP Punjab 79% 83% 82% 83% 87% 81% 75% 77% 77% 74% 73% 72% 73% 73% 74% 77% 84% 78% 60% 61% 60% 63% 61% 75% 77% 62% 62% 61% 63% 59% 55% 59% 50% 48% 45% 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 36% 38% 36% 35% 38% 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 Sindh Balochistan Sindh Balochistan 65% 64% 66% 65% 61% 60% 55% 63% 53% 44% 51% 53% 52% 58% 55% 49% 47% 47% 50% 56% 51% 54% 55% 50% 39% 39% 41% 46% 37% 34% 13% 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 39% 36% 35% 35% 38% 25% 24% 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 19% 21% 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 Source: PSLM 2011–12 to 2019–20. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Gender disparities 10 KP Punjab 100 100 80 80 Figure 5. Gross enrollment, by age and province 60 60 40 40 20 20   Boys 0 0 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 ­­  Girls KP Punjab Sindh Balochistan 100 100 100 100 80 80 80 80 60 60 60 60 40 40 40 40 20 20 20 20 0 0 0 0 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 Sindh Balochistan Boy Girl 100 100 Source: 80 PSLM 2019–20. 80 60 60 40 40 20 20 0 0 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 A similar enrollment profile exists in every province of the country. Girls have a lower enrollment Boy rate than boys across Girl In provinces, although the size of the gender gap differs from Balochistan, 40% province to province, where Punjab has the smallest gap (see figure 5). In 2019–20, in Punjab, the difference in enrollment between 13-year-old boys and girls was 5 percentage points; in KP and Balochistan, the enrollment gap between boys and girls was a staggering 32 percentage points and 25 percentage points, respectively. In relative terms, a 13-year-old boy would be 36 percent more likely to be enrolled in school than a girl of the same of boys are more likely age in KP, and 40 percent of boys were more likely than girls of the than girls of the same same age to be enrolled in Balochistan. age to be enrolled in school BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Gender disparities 11 SPOTLIGHT Out-of-School Children Around 32 percent of Pakistan’s school-age children are out of The majority of children who are currently out of school have never school, the second-highest rate in the world.4 Out-of-school attended school. In 2019–20, of the total number of OOSC, more children (OOSC) are those who have never enrolled in school or who than 82 percent had never been enrolled in school. The remaining attended school and dropped out later. Among children of primary- 18 percent represent those who were enrolled but dropped out. school-age and middle-school-age, 32 percent are not in school, Though the numbers are decreasing, 20 percent of boys have never and this proportion increases at higher levels of education, with 45 attended school compared to 33 percent of girls. The gender gap percent of secondary-school-age children who are not in school. for children who have never attended school is much larger than for those who were in school but dropped out. This indicates that while There are more girls out of school than boys. In primary to dropout rates are a serious issue, enrollment continues to be a major secondary (ages 5–16), 37 percent of girls are out of school, compared challenge, especially for girls. to 27 percent of boys. As shown in figure 6, the disparity increases with grade level. There are 27 percent of primary-school-age (ages 100% There are substantial differences across provinces in the share of 5–10) girls who are out of school, compared to 34 percent of boys of children out of school, as well as the absolute number of children 90% same school age. By middle school (ages 11–14), 35 percent of girls the out of school (table 1). In absolute terms, Punjab has the largest are out of school, versus 23 percent of boys of the same age. By high population of OOSC (over 7 million) due to its large population of school 80% (ages 15–16), more than 50 percent of girls are out of school, school-age children. However, Punjab also has the lowest percentage compared to 39 percent of boys of the same age. of children out of school (24 percent), compared to the provinces of 70% Balochistan, KP, and Sindh. Balochistan and Sindh have the highest Figure 60% 6. Share of children out of school, by gender and grade level rates of OOSC at 47 percent and 44 percent, respectively. They also have the highest rates of OOSC for girls at 59 percent and 51 percent. 50%   Boys  Girls 51% 40% The Pakistan Education Statistics report for 2021-2022 39% 35% estimates the population of OOSC to be 26.2 million. 30% 34% 20% 27% In this report, we use our own estimations and rates 23% calculated from the Pakistan Social and Living Standards 10% Measurement (PSLM) data, as this approach enables further analysis of the reasons why children are not attending school. 0% Primary Primary (ages 5–10) MiddleMiddle (ages 11–13) Secondary Secondary (ages 14–16) Once released, the Pakistan Population Census 2023 data will boy girl provide the most accurate count of OOSC in the country. Source: PSLM 2019–20. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Gender disparities 12 SPOTLIGHT: OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN Table 1. Children out of school, by province Province Population Girls Boys Total Percent ages 5–16 out of school out of school out of school out of school Balochistan 4,339,328 1,076,684 952,179 2,028,863 47% KP 11,798,233 2,683,768 2,528,861 5,212,629 44% Punjab 31,991,082 6,556,611 3,750,460 10,307,071 32% Sindh 14,675,864 1,809,692 1,718,326 3,528,018 24% Total 62,804,508 12,126,755 8,949,826 21,076,580 34% Source: Authors’ estimates, using PSLM 2019–20 and Population and Housing Census 2017. Note: The Pakistan Education Statistics report for 2021-2022 estimates the population of OOSC to be 26.2 million. Between the 2011–12 and 2019–20 administrations of the Pakistan Figure 7. Share of children out of school, over time and by gender Social and Living Standards Measure (PSLM) survey, the overall and province   Boys share of OOSC changed very little, hovering around 31 percent.  Girls However, there was variation in OOSC trends across provinces (figure KP Punjab 7). The total number of OOSC in Punjab has decreased, especially among girls. The share of OOSC has remained stable for girls and boys in KP and Sindh. Balochistan has shown an increasing trend in 43% 43% 44% 43% 44% OOSC for both boys and girls; though the most recent PSLM data 30% 32% 31% 23% 26% show a sharp decline between 2018–19 and 2019–20. In KP, Sindh, and Balochistan, the difference in the share of OOSC for boys versus 21% 21% 20% 20% 22% 22% 22% 22% 19% 22% girls has persisted over time. 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 Sindh Balochistan 64% 63% 69% 67% 59% 47% 51% 50% 49% 51% 45% 52% 36% 37% 37% 34% 39% 36% 39% 38% 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 2011–12 2013–14 2015–16 2018–19 2019–20 Source: PSLM 2011–12 to 2019–20. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Gender disparities 13 90% 80% 70% Girls living in rural areas are less likely than boys and urban girls to Figure 60% 8. Share of children out of school, by gender and location attend school, especially after primary school. As shown in figure 8, rural girls are significantly more likely to be out of school than their 50%   Boys  Girls male peers, and almost twice as likely to be out of school relative to 44% 40% urban girls. Of the total population of OOSC in Pakistan, girls living in rural areas are the most disadvantaged population, with 37 percent 30% of rural school-age girls (ages 5–16) having never attended school. Overall, Pakistan has serious gender disparities in access to education, 20% 30% with a high percentage of both boys and girls that are out of school, 21% 23% which indicates that there is a need for greater attention to improve 10% and encourage school enrollment and to deliver quality education in 0% schools for children across the country. Urban Rural urban rural boy girl Source: PSLM 2019–20. Overall, dropout rates are high for both boys and girls during transitions between school levels. Figure 9 shows the boys and girls who dropped out of school, from those enrolled in primary school (beginning in grade 1) to grade 10. The graph does not include children who were never enrolled. Both boys and girls tend to drop out of school during transition years, from primary to middle school and from middle school to secondary school. For girls, 25 percent end More than one in three Grade their education at primary school. However, if a girl progresses to secondary school (grade 9), she is more likely than a boy to complete 1 students either dropped out or grade 10. repeated at least one year during their first five years of school. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Gender disparities 14 Figure 50% 9. Share of boys and girls dropping out of school, by grade However, in 2018, ASER reported that 50 percent of grade 5 students in Pakistan had not reached grade 2 levels of learning. Another 45%   Boys  Girls indication that progress in learning levels remain low is that, while 41% children in Pakistan are expected to attend nearly 9.0 years of 40% schooling, they only achieve 4.8 years of actual learning.7 36% 35% Gender gaps are apparent, especially between urban and rural children. According to ASER, the gender gap in literacy and numeracy 30% is smaller (see figure 10) among urban boys and girls than between rural boys and girls. Boys outperform girls, especially girls in rural 25% 25% areas. For example, 33 percent of rural boys could read a story in 20% 20% Urdu or English compared to 27 percent of rural girls. The gender 20% gap in literacy is less apparent in urban areas; 46 percent of urban 16% boys and 45 percent of urban girls are able to read a study in Urdu 15% or English (figure 10a). Thirty-three percent of rural girls had difficulty recognizing numbers 1-9, whereas the gender gap among urban 10% children was smaller, with 10 percent of urban girls and 8 percent of 6% 4% 4% 4% 5% urban boys struggling to recognize numbers (figure 10b). 5% 3% 3% 3% 3% 2% 2% 1% 0% 0% 0% 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Grade 10 complete boys girls Source: PSLM 2019–20. Girls from rural areas are less likely to advance to secondary school than their urban counterparts. Rural girls are more than twice as likely to drop out than their urban counterparts. Rural girls are also significantly more likely to drop out after primary school, with 43 WHO IS MOST AFFECTED? percent of rural girls dropping out of school after grade 5, compared to 20 percent of girls of the same grade in urban areas. 5 Rural girls are the While Pakistan is experiencing a gradual upward trend in learning most likely to drop out outcomes, learning levels remain low. Annual Status of Education after primary school. Report (ASER) 2018-19 scores for all children ages 5–166 show an improvement in learning for the students who attend school. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Gender disparities 15 Figure 10. Literacy and numeracy skills A. Literacy B. Numeracy Urban   Boys Urban   Boys  Girls  Girls None 10% None 8% 12% 10% 12% Recognize 1-9 8% Letters 9% 12% Recognize 10-99 8% Words 16% 9% 15% 11% Recognize 100-200 17% 11% Sentences 16% Subtraction 19% 17% Story 46% Division 46% 45% 45% boys girls boys girls Rural Rural 23% None 22% None 33% 34% Recognize 1-9 10% Letters 14% 9% 13% 10% Recognize 10-99 17% 9% Words 15% Recognize 100-200 15% 12% Sentences 13% Subtraction 14% 11% 11% Story 33% 29% Division 27% 25% boys girls boys girls Source: ASER 2018–19, Urban and Rural. Addressing the learning crisis in Pakistan requires urgent SECTION NOTES attention from policy makers. Investing in girls’ education is 1 PBS 2023b critical, not only for gender equality, but also to empower girls and 2 Population and Housing Census, 2017. enable generational gains in learning and livelihoods. To enroll girls 3 Authors’ calculations, using PSLM 2018–19 (PBS 2023a). in school and to keep them in school, there needs to be strategic 4 Pakistan Bureau of Statistics 2023b. and varied approaches to improve enrollment, retention, and 5 Authors' calculations, using 18-year-olds who previously enrolled in primary school in the completion. This report identifies five main challenges facing girls’ 2019–20 PSLM (PBS 2023b). 6 For the time period 2014–2019. ASER tests all children ages 5–16 on what they should have education in Pakistan and provides suggestions for overcoming learned in grade 2 in Urdu, English and mathematics. these barriers. 7 Ersado et al., 2023. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Gender disparities 16 3 The five main challenges to girls’ education in Pakistan. What can policy makers do? There is a large amount of evidence that illustrates how girls continue to face greater challenges and barriers than their boy counterparts with regard to educational opportunity. This section outlines the primary challenges and a set of recommendations for each challenge to help policy makers prioritize interventions based on parameters of cost effectiveness, impact, and sustainability. 17 CHALLENGE 1 Poverty is a contributing factor for students dropping out of school. Low-income families may keep their children, especially Poverty prevents children, their daughters, at home to contribute to family income, help run the Rs 20 10 5 especially girls, from household chores, or take care of other children. Household survey responses indicate that girls in particular drop out at higher rates than going to and staying boys at the middle school level because they are needed to work at enrolled in school home. In rural areas, this may include supporting the family through agricultural work along with domestic chores.6 Another reason for children of low-income families dropping out is the cost of schooling. Poverty remains a significant barrier to receiving an Even if children go to tuition-free government schools, many of the lowest-income families may not be able to afford the associated adequate education.1 costs of schooling, such as uniforms, textbooks, transportation, and Children from the lowest-income families are the least likely to other educational materials. enroll in school (see figure 11), and among the children who do enroll, only 25 percent complete primary school.2 In Pakistan, the effect Figure 11. Enrollment, by household wealth quintile and gender of poverty on education begins at the primary school level.3 In fact, 100%   Boys  Girls 13 percent of parents cite the cost of education as one of the main reasons why their children either drop out or do not attend school.4 90% 88% Many children living in poverty, especially girls in rural areas, are 80% 86% 82% 83% an underrepresented population of students enrolled in schools. 80% According to data from the 2018 Public Expenditure Review (PER) 70% conducted in Pakistan, 19 percent of all students were from low- 72% 71% income households. Further calculations show that 28 percent of 60% children under the age of 18 were considered poor in 2018–19. This 58% 56% shows that poor children are significantly underrepresented in the 50% student population and are much less likely to be enrolled in school.5 Moreover, girls from poor families are 52 percentage points less 40% likely to attend school than girls from high-income households. Girls who live in rural areas, who are more likely to be from low-income 30% 36% households, are also less likely to be enrolled than any other group, including girls in urban areas and boys in both rural and urban areas. 20% 10% 0% Poorest 2 3 4 Wealthiest Source: Author’s calculations with data boysfrom the PSLM, 2018-19. girls BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 18 One cost factor that is especially relevant in Pakistan is the high prevalence of private schooling, with 42 percent of all students enrolled in a private school.7 The share of private schools among total enrollments is higher in urban areas (55 percent), and the highest in Punjab where 63 percent of all current students go to private schools.8 Though low-income families are less likely to send their children to private school, it remains a major option for a large share of households even though it costs three times more than PREVALENCE OF PRIVATE SCHOOLING a public government school.9 In Punjab especially, public-private partnerships (PPPs) have shown to be an effective way to increase The private sector plays a enrollment, especially girls’ enrollment. Some examples will be significant role in the Pakistani further discussed on page 21. education landscape, accounting for 55 percent of enrollment in urban areas. These schools can cost three times more than a public school. 19% In Pakistan, households, on average, spend 5 percent of their total monthly spending on education, while low-income households allocate just 3 percent.10 Households in Punjab spend the most per student, and urban households spend more than twice as much as rural households.11 Some evidence suggests that rural households in of Pakistan's students which men have “permanently migrated”, i.e., left the home for over come from low-income six months to urban areas for employment reasons, are spending households more on girls’ education. A possible reason for this may be because decision-making responsibilities have been delegated to those remaining at home, who are mostly women.12 BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 19 For example, the Female School Stipend Program in Punjab was Challenge 1: Possible solutions launched in 2003 and targeted girls in grades 6-10 who were living in districts with the lowest literacy rates.14 The government gave families Given the cost barriers associated with schooling in PKR 600 (roughly $2 USD) per quarter, and the money primarily covered the costs of schooling and transportation, which are   two the Pakistani context, there are several policy options of the biggest barriers to families allowing their daughters to attend that could help increase the likelihood of children, school. Families could only receive the stipend if their daughter especially rural girls, enrolling and staying in school. attended at least 80 percent of the time.15 Four years after the intervention, an independent evaluation found that the stipend had Policy makers could: increased girls’ enrollment from 11 percent to 32 percent.16 Use targeted incentives to increase girls’ enrollment Replicate successful public-private partnerships (PPPs) to Since there is a huge challenge in getting out-of-school children increase school access for girls into school, coupled with the fact that families are less likely to The private sector plays a large role in Pakistan’s education system, enroll girls than boys, with poorer families even less likely to enroll and there is heavy utilization of public-private partnerships (PPPs). girls, incentives that target enrollment, with a premium on girls’ These partnerships seek to enhance the provision of education and enrollment, could lead to getting more girls in school on time. have been institutionalized throughout the country via Provincial Specifically, conditional cash transfers (CCTs), which have been used Education Foundation (PEF). As of 2023, PPPs support the education for over 25 years, and they have largely been successful in increasing of roughly 3.2 million children, but the number is likely higher as enrollment for both boys and girls in many countries.13 These direct data are unavailable in Balochistan and KP.17 PPPs generally target cash transfers have been historically used to alleviate the cost of all children, and they can be used to help focus more particularly on schooling, and they can be used to encourage families to prioritize increasing girls’ enrollment in school. enrolling their daughters. BENEFIT CHALLENGE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS COST IMPACT SCAL ABILIT Y TO GIRLS Poverty Incentives for enrollment, with a focus on girls ●●● ●●● ●●○ ●○○ PPPs to increase access to school in underserved areas ●●● ●●○ ●●○ ●●○ Note: For more details, see Challenge 1 on page 18. The circles show the parameter on a scale of 1-3, with one filled circle (●○○) being low and three filled circles (●●●) being high. Source: Authors’ own table. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 20 SPOTLIGHT In Balochistan, there were PPPs that directly targeted girls through the Urban Fellowship Program (similar to FAS in Punjab). This program Examples of successful incentivized the opening of private schools for girls by offering subsidies directly to schools and guaranteed public support for three years; the program public-private partnerships managed to increase girls’ enrollment around 33 percentage points.25 benefitting girls PPPs can be a viable and complementary solution to increasing girls’ access to education through direct public provision in the short term. A PPPs in Pakistan are quite widespread, and they have recent Public Expenditure Review (PER) in Pakistan found that PPPs could be further enhanced by: been successfully used in many provinces. ɀ Increasing coordination between provinces and departments. In Sindh, the Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh PPP led to Given the breadth of PPPs in Pakistan, more could be done to share increased enrollment by 32 percentage points and improved learning by knowledge across provinces, improve data sharing, and eliminate 0.63 standard deviations.18 Also in Sindh, a PPP program was implemented program overlap and unnecessary competition between PPPs and that aimed to increase enrollment in marginalized areas, reduce gender public schools. disparity in enrollment, and increase student learning. It offered qualified local entrepreneurs to set up and run tuition-free, co-ed primary schools ɀ Continuing to prioritize underserved groups. PPPs could continue in underserved villages.19 The program increased school enrollment by 30 to target girls and extend their reach to children with disabilities and percentage points, but its impact did not seem to have affected enrollment other student groups. by gender.20 However, the village households targeted in the program did ɀ Targeting supply-side issues, especially beyond primary school, by report that their aspirations for their daughters did change from wanting increasing the number of middle and secondary schools. Given the them to become housewives to wanting them to become teachers.21 large presence of the private sector, these organizations could also In a previous PPP in Punjab, the PEF led the implementation of a program expand schooling options beyond primary school. that included vouchers that were redeemable against private school ɀ Strengthening governance and management. PPPs would benefit tuition payments. The voucher mandated that both boys and girls in a from greater transparency, accountability, and monitoring and family must be enrolled; if a family used the voucher to enroll only their evaluation efforts. son(s) and not their daughter(s), the voucher was rendered invalid.22 Also in Punjab, the Foundation Assisted Schools (FAS) had large positive impacts on ɀ Emphasizing learning outcomes. As PPPs have largely been focused indicators such as enrollment, number of teachers, and other inputs, though on access and enrollment, their impact on education quality is it remains unclear how much enrollment was truly boosted.23 As of 2023, a more mixed. Some more mature PPPs could shift focus to learning World Bank project in Punjab is funding expanded access to low-cost private outcomes. schools for poor families with the goal of enrolling an additional 900,000 children.24 Similar PPPs could be replicated in other provinces where poverty Finally, it is important to ensure that PPPs guarantee the fair treatment remains a big constraint to educational access. of teachers. Teachers should be compensated with at least the minimum wage set by each province, and they should be supported to increase their competency and effectiveness in the classrooms. Education departments and education foundations should be mindful not to leverage the cost advantages of PPPs against proper labor practices for teachers. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 21 CHALLENGE 2 Table 2. Percentages of schools from all provinces of Pakistan 5 km An insufficient number of Province Region Primary Middle Secondary Total number of schools schools for girls, especially Balochistan Rural 83% 10% 7% 10,073 at the middle school and Balochistan Urban 71% 13% 16% 5,955 KP Rural 38% 23% 39% 3,7485 secondary levels, has led KP Urban 71% 14% 15% 5,797 to lengthy travel time to Punjab Rural 32% 44% 24% 3,3081 schools and safety concerns Punjab Urban 57% 22% 20% 65,704 Sindh Rural 91% 6% 3% 46,283 Sindh Urban 43% 26% 31% 15,663 The insufficient number of schools, especially at the Source: NEMIS-AEPAM 2021-22. secondary school level, has raised concerns about travel time and safety, and it presents a key challenge The shortage in school establishments varies across provinces. Shortages are much more pronounced in Balochistan and Sindh, to school access and enrollment for girls. In a 2022 where more than 75 percent of educational institutions are only World Bank household survey, when asked for the primary schools. The situation in rural Sindh is particularly stark, since top reason why families do not send their children to 91 percent (41,998) of schools are primary schools, and only 9 percent are middle or secondary schools. This is followed closely by rural school, nearly a third (29 percent) of families who live Balochistan where 83 percent (8,386) of schools are primary schools. in rural areas responded that school is too far away.26 Too few schools lead to the need to travel long distances to attend For these families, there were too few local schools, especially school, which has been shown to significantly impact enrollment middle schools and secondary schools, to meet their needs. In and regular attendance, particularly of girls.27 This report utilized 2016–17, 64 percent of school establishments were primary schools a regression analysis to estimate the correlation between distance (150,129 schools), 21 percent were middle schools (49,090 schools), to school, as measured by minutes to go to school, and school and only 15 percent were secondary schools (35,684 schools). In attendance. For children enrolled in secondary school in rural areas, 2020–21, 62 percent of school establishments were primary schools 20 percent had to travel over 2 kilometers to their closest secondary (144,586 schools), 20 percent were middle schools (47,182 schools), school, and 14 percent had to travel more than 5 kilometers.28 and only 17 percent were secondary schools (40,227 schools). Even after five years, the number of school buildings has stayed relatively the same, with the number of school establishments dropping dramatically after primary level, leaving many children with very limited choices for schooling beyond grade 5. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 22 Findings showed that traveling a greater distance to school affects manage to arrive at school, they can face more instances of SRGBV. boys’ attendance at the primary school level but does not have much Among those surveyed, 53 percent of girls indicated that corporal of an effect at later schooling levels whereas traveling a long distance punishment by faculty was one of the primary reasons they had to school for girls remains a significant challenge at all school levels. persistent absenteeism or dropped out of school, while 33 percent For example, girls in middle school (ages 10–12) who spend between of respondents indicated that they feared both sexual violence from 45 minutes to 1 hour to go to school are 15 percentage points less faculty and from individuals encountered while walking to school.33 likely to attend school than those who spend less than 15 minutes to The impact of these experiences of violence, the inability to seek go to school. A greater distance to high school is also associated with help, the lack of reporting mechanisms and the possible fear of a lower probability of attending school for girls, while it has no effect blackmail by harassers, takes a toll on the psychological and physical on school attendance for boys. well-being of many girls, which can lead to the discontinuation of their education. Having to travel long distances to get to school raises safety concerns, particularly for girls. As noted from their household survey With an insufficient number of schools, especially in rural areas, responses, parents prefer not to allow their children to attend school children are also impacted by a low quality learning environment. that are far away, for fear that their children may be harmed during Though overall teacher-to-pupil ratios in Pakistan are reasonable, their journey to and from school. In Pakistan, girls face a myriad of one issue that disproportionately affects rural students is the school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV).29 SRGBV can be practice of combining students of different grade levels into one physical, sexual or psychological aggression, punishment, ostracism, very large classroom. Some refer to this as multigrade teaching corporal punishment, bullying, humiliation and degrading treatments, but in reality it does not follow the pedagogy of true multigrade harassment, sexual abuse and exploitation perpetrated by teachers, teaching where teachers integrate similar or related concepts/ and fellow students.30 The effects of SRGBV on girls are serious, themes across contents of different levels.34 In recent years, the and range from physical and emotional health issues, including government has hired several batches of teachers to make up for depression, missing school or dropping out altogether, and poor these shortfalls but has not necessarily constructed new schools academic performance, among others.31 to adequately address multigrade teaching classrooms. In Punjab, 25 percent of primary schools have combined classrooms, and 50 Traveling long distances to and from schools leaves girls vulnerable percent of the classrooms in public schools are overcrowded, with to harassment and violence. Girls are harassed, oftentimes daily, one class containing over 40 students.35 In Sindh, parents in multiple by men encountered on the streets, in and around the school rural districts reported that overcrowding was one of their primary gate, and on the vehicle taking them to school. According to concerns, and was a factor in their decision not to send their children studies, 63 percent of respondents believed that public streets to school.36 were areas of high and moderate vulnerability for girls.32 Once girls BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 23 The few schools that are available lack adequate infrastructure rates, attendance rates, and learning outcomes.38 There are 33 to promote a proper learning environment, especially for girls. percent of schools in Pakistan that do not have basic sanitation or Figure 12 shows the school condition and facilities by province, toilet facilities.39 In particular, poor toilet facilities significantly affect where schools in Punjab and KP are better equipped than other young girls who have started to menstruate. The lack of education provinces. The differences in Sindh and Balochistan between rural around menstruation and the absence of private gender-segregated and urban schools is more marked. Proper water, sanitation and toilets equipped with running water create difficulties for girls hygiene (WASH) facilities in schools are especially important for the managing menstrual hygiene at school.40 A study in Sindh revealed well-being of adolescent girls making the transition to puberty, and that 55 percent of girls missed class during their menstrual cycles.41 In having adequate WASH facilities for girls can support better school many instances, this can lead to prolonged absenteeism and eventual attendance and performance.37 Evidence shows that the quality of discontinuation of school. school infrastructure has a positive impact on school enrollment Figure 12. School condition and facilities, by province (% schools with specified facility) Rural areas Urban areas Sindh 54% Latrine Latrine 78% Sindh Latrine 44,543 schools 51% Drinking Drinking Waterwater 73% 4,903 schools Drinking Water Sindh Sindh 25% Building Building condition Condition 49% Building Condition 51% Boundary Boundary Wall wall 81% Boundary Wall Punjab 99% Latrine Latrine 100% Punjab Latrine Punjab Punjab 46,557 schools 100% Drinking Drinking Waterwater 100% 5,954 schools Drinking Water 79% Building Building condition Condition 79% Building Condition 98% Boundary Boundary Wall wall 99% Boundary Wall KP 90% Latrine Latrine 94% LatrineKP 31,245 schools 86% 94% 2,219 schools Kpk Drinking Water Kpk Drinking Drinking Waterwater 67% Building condition Building Condition 71% Building Condition 88% Boundary Boundary Wall wall 94% Boundary Wall Balochistan 43% Balochistan Balochistan Balochistan 37% Latrine Latrine Latrine 10,035 schools 28% Drinking Drinking Waterwater 36% 5,054 schools Drinking Water 19% Building Building condition Condition 21% Building Condition 44% Boundary Boundary Wall wall 50% Boundary Wall -120% -100% -80% -60% -40% -20% 0% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% Source: NEMIS-AEPAM 2018. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 24 higher overall enrollment for both boys and girls, while having a Challenge 2: Possible solutions boundary wall at the middle and secondary levels corresponds to higher enrollment specifically for girls.42 The problems with school To improve the overall learning environment, reduce infrastructure and travel times to school have very real and significant consequences for students, especially girls. SRGBV, alleviate costs for the poorest families, and ensure that children, especially girls, have access Lastly, in theory, an increase in the number of schools should also drive down costs for families because more schools would translate to schools with proper infrastructure and facilities, into more choices for families (be it government, private, or low- policymakers could consider: cost private), and families would also have less need to pay for transportation costs. However, more research on whether this holds Increasing the supply of well-constructed and safe true would be warranted. schools, especially middle schools Focusing school expansion in areas with larger The data shows that there is a dire need for more schools, especially concentrations of rural girls at the middle and secondary levels. Though school construction is not always considered a “smart buy”, data shows that it is a necessary In line with the idea that more does not equate to better, it will be input in Pakistan, as it would help reduce travel times to school. important for policymakers to target school expansion in areas that However, more is not always better. Newly built schools should also need it the most – those with high concentrations of low-income meet quality criteria — that they be constructed to meet the needs of families and/or rural families. In Burkina Faso, when “girl-friendly” the community, are easily accessible for students, that they include schools were built in rural villages, both enrollment and learning gender-segregated toilets and wash facilities, have enough tables outcomes increased significantly for girls.43 Similarly, in Indonesia, the and chairs for students, proper teaching and learning supplies, and gender gap in enrollment was eliminated when 60,000 new schools a boundary wall to prevent SRGBV, among other things. Evidence were constructed in conveniently located areas.44 shows that having a boundary wall is connected to a 3.9 percent BENEFIT CHALLENGE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS COST IMPACT SCAL ABILIT Y TO GIRLS Insufficient number Building more middle schools ●●○ ●●● ●●● ●●○ of post-primary schools Building more schools in areas with larger concentrations of rural ●●● ●●● ●●● ●●○ families Note: For more details, see Challenge 2 on page 22. The circles show the parameter on a scale of 1-3, with one filled circle (●○○) being low and three filled circles (●●●) being high. Source: Authors’ own table. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 25 25,497 CHALLENGE 3 Figure Rural 13. Number of teachers per province 11,076 25,497 Rural Balochistan 11,076 12,850 There is a shortage Urban Rural 25,497 Balochistan 12,462 11,076 12,850   Male 25,497 Balochistan Urban of qualified teachers, Rural Balochistan 12,462 11,076 12,850 Urban  Female Balochistan 12,462 particularly female Urban Rural 12,850 12,462 105,948 teachers in rural schools Rural 62,706 105,948 Urban 21,318 62,706 105,948 KP KP Rural 28,66562,706 21,318 Urban 105,948 KP KP KP Rural 28,66562,706 A shortage of qualified and trained female teachers, especially in Urban 21,318 28,665 21,318 rural areas, contributes to girls’ dropout rates. In urban areas, female Urban 28,665 181,076 teachers make up a large percentage of the overall teachers. In rural Rural 181,076 359,794 Rural areas, however, except for Punjab, female teachers make up a smaller 359,794 Punjab 79,810 Punjab Urban Rural 181,076 share of the overall number of teachers (figure 13). There have been 79,810 289,781 359,794 Punjab Urban Rural 181,076 greater efforts in Punjab to reach male/female teacher parity, but more 79,810 289,781 359,794 Punjab Urban research needs to be done to understand how this can be accomplished 79,810 289,781 Sindh Punjab Urban and whether it can be replicated in other areas of the country. Rural 77,332 289,781 22,089 Sindh Rural 77,332 Teacher shortages riddle the education system across the country. 22,08955,855 77,332 Sindh Urban Rural 129,884 Teachers are known to be the most important school input to 22,08955,855 77,332 Sindh Urban Rural 129,884 engaging children in the learning process and to encouraging them to 22,08955,855 Sindh Urban Source: NEMIS-AEPAM 129,884 55,855 2021-22. stay in school. However, teacher vacancies persist across the country. Urban 129,884 In Punjab, there are over 77,000 vacancies in the school system across A legacy of low investment in girls’ education has made it difficult all levels, with nearly 70,000 of those vacancies for teachers alone, to hire and retain female teachers. There is also a large body according to the latest data in the School Information System (SIS). of evidence from high-income countries and some low-income The teacher vacancies account for 17 percent of the total number of countries that show that same-gender teachers, especially for girls, sanctioned posts. They are critical to a quality education and schools can help underserved students learn better.46 Female students are need to be adequately staffed. Having an adequate number of quality likely to have more schooling benefits when they have a female teachers is more impactful and has a higher rate of return than teacher. However, there remains a shortage of female teachers, investments that improve physical infrastructure and equipment.45 especially in rural areas where parents often prefer them as teachers for their daughters. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 26 There are few local women with the appropriate educational concern over teachers being poorly educated and underqualified. qualifications to teach in rural schools, especially in Sindh and In public schools, parents and students have complained of teacher Balochistan (Zafar 2007), while in urban schools, there is a higher absenteeism, overcrowded schools, and poor facilities.52 proportion of female teachers compared to male teachers (see Teacher absenteeism is a chronic problem in Pakistan. In Punjab, figure 13). In rural Pakistan, girls’ enrollment is highly correlated to the on any given day, 18 percent of the teachers are absent from their share of teachers residing in the village.47 However, without many girls classroom, and in 14 percent of the schools, the teacher is not even completing their education, along with the remote locations of many physically present at the school.53 Teacher absenteeism is not unique rural schools, it has been difficult to hire and retain female teachers in to Pakistan; it also occurs in many other countries in South Asia. In those posts. Afghanistan on any given day, 10 percent of teachers are missing from There are also other teacher characteristics, such as qualifications, school, and in Sri Lanka, most teachers take all of their available leave, content mastery, and attendance, that influences girls’ education which means that they are absent for 15 percent of the school year.54 in Pakistan. Even though evidence shows that the gender of teachers Not only does teacher absenteeism have a direct effect on teacher matters for girls’ educational outcomes, especially in socially performance and student learning, but it also exacerbates inequity. conservative cultures, it is important to note that hiring female Schools with the poorest and lowest performing children, who are teachers is not the only factor in creating a positive environment rural girls in Pakistan, often suffer from the highest rates of teacher for girls’ education.48 Most importantly, teachers must be qualified, absenteeism. 55 well-trained and responsive to their students. A study showed that Teachers in Pakistan are often underqualified and do not have much rural students of female teachers performed worse in mathematics, access to training and professional development opportunities. and contributing factors for the students’ poor performance were In Pakistan, many teachers obtain degrees from teacher training the formal educational level of the teacher, and the coverage of institutions to make them eligible for a job, rather than to improve the mathematics curriculum by the teachers.49 This suggests that the quality of their teaching instruction.56 A 2018 study found that the gender of the teacher was not as important as the teachers’ there was no strong relationship between teacher qualifications (i.e., a knowledge of mathematics and their teaching practices. credentialed teacher) and teacher effects on student achievement in In KP, only 60 percent teachers could pass a grade 5 mathematics either government or private schools in Pakistan.57 In addition, once exam, compared with a 40 percent pass rate among their teachers are hired, their opportunity for professional development is students. 50 Similarly, 56 percent of the teachers across Punjab could scarce. A primary teacher earns an opportunity for in-service training correctly answer at least 80 percent of the items in a basic content after 13 years of service while a secondary school teacher must teach knowledge assessment. 51 These findings suggest that a substantial for 16 years before having a similar in-service opportunity. 58 share of teachers are not well prepared to teach and that many children who enter school are exposed to a classroom environment that is not conducive to learning. Quality concerns occur in both private and public schools but can present themselves differently. At private schools, mainly low-cost ones, parents have also expressed BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 27 paraprofessionals, recent university graduates) to become teachers Challenge 3: Possible solutions improves the quality of learning.60 In KP, the replacement of a preservice qualification with a nine-month school-level program was Given that teachers are at the heart of learning, a found to be inconsistent with the quality standards set out in the National Education Policy.61 The evidence is also mixed on whether robust and sufficient cadre of qualified and effective improved working conditions or induction programs/mentoring are teachers in Pakistan are essential to ensuring that effective, as most of the studies are single-group causal comparisons, all children can reach their potential. While teacher and it is difficult to discern which of the mechanisms within these programs actually drive learning impact.62 Supporting teachers, either salaries comprise the majority of the education by providing professional development or other types of support, sector’s budget, salary increases may improve the tend to have generally positive outcomes in teacher effectiveness quality of teachers entering the profession and though they are not necessarily related to recruitment or retention. help with retention. Any effort to make teachers Improvements to teacher recruitment could be achieved in two main more effective would likely increase the efficiency ways: increasing girls’ enrollment and girls’ completion of a full cycle of education would help build a pipeline of potential future female of the entire education system. Changes that focus teachers; and providing preservice female teachers who have not on improving teacher motivation and ensuring yet been hired with training and professional development. While adequately resourced teaching environments could more data are needed to better understand both of these potential approaches, some evidence suggests that more public investment in also help reduce absenteeism. To create a positive girls’ secondary education would increase the local pool of potential impact on greater student engagement and improved female teachers, making “the students of today the teachers of learning outcomes, policy makers could: tomorrow”.63 Improve training and professional Accelerate teacher recruitment for vacant positions, development for all teachers with a focus on hiring more female teachers in rural areas Across South Asia, countries tend to be stronger in curriculum Some strategies used to improve recruitment and retention in development and frameworks than preservice and in-service other countries, especially in challenging schools and areas, include training.64 More attention could be paid to provide all teachers with offering financial incentives, accepting an alternative path to teaching, more consistent and easily accessible teacher training programs that improving working conditions (induction programs, mentoring), focus on content, pedagogical skills, child psychology, and activity- and providing professional development and leadership support.59 based teaching strategies. There is a large body of evidence that However, evidence for the success of these strategies remain shows how programs that successfully provide relevant and ongoing mixed. Financial incentives can attract teachers to more challenging teacher professional development and coaching opportunities schools, but this may not be enough to ensure their retention. There have been linked with higher student learning outcomes.65 In Brazil, is mixed evidence on whether allowing noncertified teachers (e.g., a classroom observation and coaching program for teachers led BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 28 to better use of teachers’ instruction time, producing statistically at the national level. In Punjab, there is an e-transfer system and significant gains in student engagement and learning.66 The program accompanying guidelines that allows teachers to make transfer was also delivered via Skype, which kept the program’s costs low.67 A requests, but anecdotal evidence suggests that deployments remain body of new research supports this idea that the way to best improve politicized. While there is data available on the type of transfer girls’ learning is to improve the training and professional development request, there is not sufficient information on which transfers were of teachers.68 reversed or other qualitative information that would help create a fuller picture of how teacher transfers affect rural/urban schools and Develop a transparent deployment strategy across a other equity indicators. variety of geographies More research is also needed to better understand the obstacles Evidence from South Asia shows that many teachers spend a lot that female teachers face regarding job deployment. Some barriers of energy, time, and money on ensuring a good job deployment, female teachers face, especially those deployed to rural areas, seem which can dramatically affect their working and living conditions.69 similar to their students: transport and security. Many rural areas are Oftentimes the teachers seek transfers regardless of the need for not easy to access, do not have clean sanitation facilities, and lack teachers at particular schools; many teachers prefer to be located proper housing.70 in urban areas versus rural ones. This surplus of teachers in schools and geographical regions that do not need them impedes student Financial incentives may also help with recruitment of teachers achievement, especially for rural students. While some qualitative specifically to rural areas, an initiative that has successfully worked reports indicate that there are fewer female teachers in rural areas, in KP as well as countries as diverse as the Gambia, the Republic of and that attracting teachers to more remote, rural posts is difficult, Korea, and Rwanda.71 there is not enough data on teacher transfers and deployment BENEFIT CHALLENGE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS COST IMPACT SCAL ABILIT Y TO GIRLS Shortage of qualified Hiring more female teachers ●●○ ●●● ●●○ ●●○ teachers Improving training, content mastery and professional ●●● ●○○ ●●● ●●● development Developing a more strategic deployment system in particular ●●○ ●○○ ●●● ●●● for rural schools Note: For more details, see Challenge 3 on page 26. The circles show the parameter on a scale of 1-3, with one filled circle (●○○) being low and three filled circles (●●●) being high. Source: Authors’ own table. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 29 CHALLENGE 4 Table 3. Reasons for child dropping out of school There remain some Reason Percent of parents Percent of parents of boys of girls sociocultural beliefs and Child not willing 38 23 household factors that Parents/elders did not allow 3 19 hinder girls from getting an Had to help at home 4 15 education Too expensive 12 13 Other 14 9 Too far away 3 8 Much has been written on conservative gender norms Education completed 2 3 and other socially conservative beliefs that affect the Had to help with work 17 3 enrollment and completion rates of girls. Education not useful 1 2 Child sick 1 1 This section attempts to summarize some of this literature, to help Poor teaching behavior 1 1 develop a clearer understanding of the greatest challenges girls Marriage 0 1 confront in seeking an education in Pakistan. There are various No female staff 0 1 reasons that parents give for their children not being in school, as Child too young 1 1 shown in table 3. Source: PSLM 2019–20. Beliefs around gender norms can have an impact on schooling for girls. Parents in Pakistan have different professional aspirations for daughters and sons, with 97 percent of parents of boys wanting them to work outside the home compared to 47 percent of the parents 43% of girls.72 Among survey respondents, 43 percent of men thought women should not be allowed to work outside the home, compared to 20 percent of women. These perceptions may influence parents in prioritizing boys’ education as they are the ones who are more likely to work outside of the home. However, people with more schooling were more likely to have progressive attitudes, respondents with secondary school degrees were 10–12 percent more likely to agree of men surveyed think with the statements “women should be allowed to work outside of the home” and “women can do the same jobs as men.” This suggests women should not work that increasing educational attainment can decrease gender biases. outside of the home 30 Child and early marriage is another sociocultural issue that contributes to girls dropping out of school. A relatively low percentage (1 percent) of parents reported that their daughters left school to marry. However, it remains a barrier to girls completing school. Child and early marriage can occur for a variety of reasons. Better educated girls are A household’s socioeconomic status can be a driver, pressuring a girl to relieve the financial burdens of her family by marrying early.73 less likely to be married There is also a correlation between child marriage and lower wealth, off early, and more likely to lower education levels, and higher labor force participation in have opportunities to lead Pakistan.74 Put simply, girls in Pakistan are more likely to marry early if they live in rural areas and come from a lower-socioeconomic healthier lives. groups. Though there has been a reduction in child marriage in Pakistan, around 21 percent of girls are married before the age of 18.75 Girls who are better educated are less likely to be married off as children and are more likely to have opportunities to build a healthier and more prosperous life for themselves and their Whether a family lives in an urban or rural setting directly impacts families. Women with primary schooling are 18 percent more likely girls’ education enrollment. Those who live in rural areas are much to report feeling that they have a say in the number of children less likely to attend school. When enrollment by location and they have, compared with women with no education.76 Relatedly, gender is analyzed, findings show that female students living in rural children born to a mother who can read are 50 percent more likely areas are the most disadvantaged demographic in terms of school to survive past age 5, and one additional year of schooling for 1,000 attendance across the entire country. In Punjab, in urban areas, women can lead to two fewer maternal deaths.77 enrollment rates for boys and girls are very similar, but in rural areas there is a significant gender gap in enrollment. In KP, Balochistan, Two household factors, illiteracy and geographic location (rural/ and Sindh, the gender gap in enrollment is present both in urban urban), can affect a child’s likelihood of receiving an education. and rural areas, with the gender gap in rural areas being much more Having illiterate parents significantly reduces the chances of pronounced. Interestingly, male students in KP living in urban or attending school, especially for girls. In Pakistan, children whose rural areas are significantly more likely to attend school, compared mothers have even a single year of education spend one extra to female students living in urban or rural areas. In Balochistan, male hour studying at home every day and report higher test scores.78 students living in rural areas are as likely to attend school as female The same study showed that a child living in a household where students living in urban areas. the head of the household is illiterate is 26 percentage points less likely to attend school, compared to one living in a household where the head is literate. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 31 SMS and phone messages and social mobilization to encourage re- Challenge 4: Possible solutions enrollment in schools. Initial findings show positive effects on girls' enrollment and learning outcomes after schools re-opened.79 Changing beliefs and household factors can be In Zimbabwe, the Girls Education Challenge launched a difficult, as they are entangled with entrenched issues communications campaign to change attitudes to increase girls’ like poverty and sociocultural norms. However, there enrollment and educational achievement. The “Improving Girls’ Access through Transformative Education” initiative sought to are initiatives domestically and internationally that convey information about the rights of girls, the importance of girls’ have showed promise, and policy makers can: education, and the barriers that girls face in their pursuit of education. It provided strategies to help address some of the most substantial Develop targeted communications campaigns barriers to girls’ education. The initiative led to improved enrollment A low cost, pilot program in Punjab called SMS GIRL is testing rates, where girls who would have otherwise left school remained in the impacts of SMS and phone messages to engage with remote school for one additional year, on average.80 instruction (TV), with specific messages for girls’ engagement, and A novel approach that is being tested to help change gender norms is education entertainment. This has been used in various contexts, including India. Two 25-minute shorts were delivered through Facebook Messenger to reduce the social acceptability of violence against women and participants were randomly assigned to watch video clips with both implicit and explicit messaging formats. After one week, viewers were 91 percent more likely to add a frame against violence against women in their Facebook profile picture and those who viewed the explicit messaging were more likely to share video clips with friends and promote information seeking behaviors.81 CHANGING AT TITUDES Initiatives to change sociocultural beliefs around the importance of girls' education can leverage technology, be low cost, and have high impact. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 32 Work with multiple stakeholders In the 2000s in Niger, local communities including school to reinforce the same message management committees, educational officers, and government officials came together to create a common agenda to tackle low girls’ There have been a number of different types of interventions to enrollment. In the densely populated region of Maradi, 33 out of 47 improve girls’ educational experiences that focus on alleviating school management committee federations organized joint actions financial burdens, improving infrastructure, and other institutional to increase girls’ enrollment where they used radio messaging and changes such as school and classroom reforms.82 However, combining endorsement by prominent community leaders such as local chiefs these interventions may have more promising effects than single to significantly boost total enrollment and improve gender parity. 84 interventions. For example, infrastructure-related reforms together These efforts helped contribute to girls’ enrollment in Maradi and with institutional change with regard to developing girls’ schools may accounted for a 53 percent increase in the total number of girls have more affect in increase girls’ learning outcomes than pursuing enrolled at the national level for the 2009–10 school year.85 one of these interventions separately.83 The combination of activities also have the potential to involve a greater number of stakeholders and form deeper alliances around gender equality. BENEFIT CHALLENGE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS COST IMPACT SCAL ABILIT Y TO GIRLS Sociocultural beliefs Communications campaigns ●●○ ●○○ ●●● ●●● Aligning stakeholders ●○○ ●○○ ●●● ●●● Note: For more details, see Challenge 4 on page 30. The circles show the parameter on a scale of 1-3, with one filled circle (●○○) being low and three filled circles (●●●) being high. Source: Authors’ own table. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 33 CHALLENGE 5 emotionally prepared. There are several risks to children under age 6 regarding school readiness. Factors such as parental distress, lack Without quality education of psychosocial stimulation, food insecurity, low maternal education, available for all children, no enrollment in early childhood education, and living in a rural area were associated with children’s learning outcomes.87 A lack of progress will remain slow psychosocial stimulation between caregivers and children of all ages corresponds most strongly to a lack of school readiness. Overall, this is an issue that affects both boys and girls, but mothers with greater Children in Pakistan will continue to face challenges educational attainment were more likely to talk to their children, read with enrollment and completion unless the quality of to them, or take them on outings.88 education improves. A topic that has significant education quality implications, but also substantial political, cultural, and economic subtext is language of In responses to the household surveys, parents overwhelmingly instruction. The use of a dominant language of instruction negatively express direct or indirect concern about the quality of education. affects students’ ability to learn the language and understand the They directly state that the “quality of schools” or “education not broader curriculum, particularly for girls and other disadvantaged useful” was a reason for not sending their children. Their other groups.89 According to UNESCO, 40 percent of children globally reasons for not sending their children to school may serve as proxies are not receiving an education in a language they understand.90 In for their concern about the low quality education: the shortage Pakistan, Urdu and English are the official mediums of instruction, of teachers, their children’s lack of interest in studies, and the which could hinder a child’s educational attainment should they not unnecessary need for further education for their children. Even if be proficient in either language. While Urdu is the official language, other challenges are addressed, by reducing or eliminating fees, only 11 percent of the population speaks it, and only 0.01 percent building more schools, or hiring more teachers, if schools do not speak English.91 More recently, various provinces indicated that provide children with the requisite knowledge and skills to improve children and teachers are not proficient in either language and in their futures, families and students will not see the benefits of reality most schools still used local languages for instruction.92 attending or completing school. Instruction in a child’s mother tongue can have a positive impact on Education quality is a multidimensional issue that includes a quality girls’ enrollment and transition rates as girls traditionally have less learning environment of teachers, school infrastructure, and teaching exposure to languages outside of the home.93 and learning materials to support students and their families. This Classroom teaching and learning materials like textbooks also report seeks to highlight some of the main challenges to improving contribute to the overall learning environment. Textbooks are an the low quality of education that are particularly applicable to important factor in education practice and a pedagogical tool that Pakistan and provide possible solutions to overcome these barriers. helps link the curriculum to what is taught.94 While teachers and In Pakistan there is a trend of delayed enrollment, in which data their mastery of content is tantamount, the textbooks that teachers show that the highest enrollment rate occurs at age 9.86 A possible use, and other teaching materials must also be of high quality, and result of this late enrollment age is that many children are not ready perhaps more importantly, available to use. In Pakistan, quality aside, for school, i.e. they are neither academically prepared nor socially or textbook availability and procurement is a problem. In 2022, a paper BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 34 shortage due to inflation led to textbook publishers being unable to This challenge requires policy makers to consider the full range and print textbooks for school use.95 In 2023, schools in a KP district were variety of solutions that have been mentioned in this report. Table asked to return 30 percent of the free textbooks they received to help 4 in the Conclusion (section 5) contains a complete list of solutions alleviate the shortage of textbooks in the province.96 If families cannot and parameters for decision-making. Ultimately, what is clear is that afford textbooks, or if textbooks are in short supply, then students without greater investments in education quality, neither boys nor miss out on having an essential learning aid. Textbook shortages also girls will succeed in school. affect teachers, who rely on textbooks to help them teach. SECTION NOTES 1 Human Rights Watch, 2018; Béteille et 24 Latif, 2016. 47 Lloyd, Mete and Sathar, 2005. 72 Minardi et al., 2021. al., 2020; Saleem, 2023; Barón et al., 25 Ibid. 48 Sperling and Winthrop, 2015. 73 Morris, Hardy, and Zivetz, 2017. forthcoming 26 World Bank, 2022. 49 Warwick and Jatoi 1994. 74 Malé and Wodon, 2016. 2 World Bank, 2018. 27 Theunynck and Rabakoson, 2017. 50 Saqib et al., 2016. 75 Ibid. 3 World Bank, 2018. 28 Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2023a 51 World Bank, 2019. 76 Aslam, 2013. 4 PSLM, 2019-20. 29 World Bank, forthcoming. 52 Human Rights Watch, 2018. 77 Population Reference Bureau, 2011. 5 Barón et al., forthcoming. 30 UNESCO, 2015. 53 Geven, 2019. 78 Andrabi et al., 2013. 6 Saleem, 2023. 31 UNICEF, 2016. 54 Beteille et al., 2020.. 79 Hasan, Geven, and Tahir, 2021. 7 Ibid. 32 World Bank, forthcoming. 55 Ibid. 80 Cotton et al., 2020. 8 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 56 Tahira et al., 2020. 81 Donati, Orozco-Olvera, and Rao, 2022. 9 Ibid. 34 Nawab and Baig, 2011. 57 Bau and Das, 2018. 82 Unterhalter et al., 2014. 10 Barón et al (PER). 35 Marcus, Choi and Berman, 2018. 58 Mitchell and Yang, 2023. 83 Ibid. 11 Ibid. 36 Saleem, 2023. 59 See et al., 2020. 84 Maruyama, Kageyama, and Kunieda, 2022. 12 Saleemi, 2023. 37 Sperling and Winthrop, 2015. 60 Evans and Acosta, 2023. 85 Ibid. 13 Lee and Medina, 2019, Glewwe and Muralidharan, 2015, Fiszbein et al., 2009. 38 Krishnaratne, White and Carpenter, 2013 61 Ahmad, Shaheen, and Hussain, 2022. 86 Pak Alliance for Maths and Science, n.d. 14 Global Center for Development, 2023. 39 Quddus, 2022. 62 See et al., 2020. 87 Hentschel et al., 2022. 15 Ibid. 40 Lihemo and Hafeez-Ur-Rehman, 2017. 63 Andrabi, Das, and Khwaja, 2013. 88 Ibid. 16 Ibid. 41 Nawaz, Khalid and Serani, 2017. 64 Beteille et al., 2020. 89 Milligan, Desai, and Benson, 2020. 17 Barón et al., forthcoming. 42 Gillani, 2019. 65 Popova, Evans and Arancibia, 2016. 90 UNESCO, 2021. 18 Ibid. 43 Evans and Yuan, 2019. 66 Bruns, Costa and Cunha, 2017. 91 Translators without Borders, 2020. 19 Barrera-Osorio et al., 2017. 44 Harrison, 2015. 67 Ibid. 92 Bend, Salman, and Zia, unpublished. 20 Ibid. 45 Behrman et al., 1997. 68 Evans and Yuan, 2019. 93 Ibid. 21 Ibid. 46 Dee, 2005; Hanushek and Rivkin, 2006; 69 Beteille et al., 2020. 94 Japelj Pavešić and Cankar, 2022. Lindahl, 2007; Rawal and Kingdon, 2010; 70 Mitchell and Yang, 2023. 95 India Today, 2022. 22 Malik, 2010. Fairlie, Hoffman and Oreopoulos, 2014; 23 Ibid. Muralidharan and Sheth, 2016. 71 Rizwan and Taniguchi, 2022. 96 Shinwari, 2023. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Challenges to girls' education 35 4 Additional impacts to girls’ education This section briefly outlines a few topics that are outside of the formal education system but are directly linked to girls’ education in Pakistan. Policy makers may need to consider these factors in their decision-making process, to ensure that girls are able to start and remain in school. 36 Girls, especially from rural households, were more likely to drop out of school after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the household Emergencies survey data, 7 percent of rural households reported that girls did There are many types of emergencies that hinder or stop educational not return to school after the pandemic, compared to just 3 percent opportunities, especially for girls. In emergency situations, girls often reporting the same for boys.5 In some communities, more than 10 face greater threats of violence, increased rates of early marriage and percent of households reported that their daughters did not return teenage pregnancy, and take on a greater share of domestic labor. to the classroom once schools reopened; this was observed in However, it is during these emergency states that education for girls Balochistan (11 percent) and Sindh (15 percent), two provinces that becomes even more important, as it provides psychosocial, cognitive, already have some of the lowest education outcomes in the country.6 and even physical protection.1 The outbreak of COVID-19 also perpetuated stereotypical gender roles for both girls and boys. Girls faced increased responsibilities The COVID-19 pandemic to complete household chores, and boys were more at risk of being The pandemic has had undeniable effects on every country’s pushed into child labor and income generating activities.7 Children education sector, including Pakistan’s. There is a lot of research that from rural households were also more likely to report having to has been published or is forthcoming that examines those effects, participate in income generating activities than those from urban including in the specific context of Pakistan. The share of students households.8 who cannot read or understand a simple text by age 10 in low- and middle-income countries could reach 70 percent because of long While the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still school closures and ineffective remote learning.2 being studied, current evidence suggests that girls, especially rural girls, were severely impacted and stand to lose more by way of In Pakistan, COVID-19 forced schools to close with minimal success educational opportunities than boys. with distance learning. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting school closures, 75 percent of families with children ages 3 to 17 reported stopping education, and more than 80 percent of boys and girls reported not attending school for between 6 to 12 months.3 Data suggest that girls in rural During school closures, the federal ministry and provincial education households were more than departments made great efforts to implement diverse modes of digital learning through radio, TV, and online platforms. However, twice as likely than boys the most marginalized households lacked adequate infrastructure not to return to school after and/or digital technology. On average, 21 percent of households with the pandemic. school-going children do not have any access to electricity; and rates are highest in provinces with large rural populations such as Sindh (53 percent), KP (30 percent), and Balochistan (11 percent).4 It is likely that students’ limited ability to engage with remote learning will further enlarge the gaps in educational achievement in these provinces. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Additional impacts 37 Climate change Floods are part of the overall global climate crisis that does and will have implications for girls’ education. Pakistan has been experiencing more severe weather patterns in recent years than before. In 2022, devastating floods left a third of the country’s land mass under water. As a result, 24,000 schools were damaged or destroyed, and roughly A GENDER EQUALIT Y PERSPECTIVE 3.5 million children had their schooling disrupted.9 Without understanding women's While climate change affects everyone, it disproportionately affects opinions and lived experiences, women and girls. Since many women work in the agricultural sector, when disasters occur, they often must work harder to secure income it will be difficult to tailor the and resources, which puts pressure on girls to leave school to help education system to serve boys manage the household.10 A study in Bangladesh showed that some and girls equally well. families also married off their daughters earlier to offset financial distress and to prevent sexual violence that can occur during crisis times.11 Climate disasters exacerbate the conditions which lead to girls dropping out of school and discontinuing their education. Women’s voices in the public and private spheres Incorporating a gender equality perspective into all aspects of daily life, both public and private, can have a direct effect on girls’ education. One way to do this is to ensure that women’s voices are Climate change heard at all levels of government and that female perspectives are part of education policy discussions. In 2022, Pakistan went from no disproportionately female ministers in the last decade to 5 out of 37 ministers. It will affects women and girls, be important to continue to make progress in alleviating the barriers who often work in the women face to becoming decision-makers. Interviews in Punjab indicated that many women still struggled to enter the political agricultural sector. sphere due to sociocultural norms such as the culture of pardah (the practice of female seclusion either physically or through veiling), dual responsibility of housework and a political career, and the lack of support by political party leadership.12 Without understanding women’s perspectives and hearing their opinions and lived experiences, it will be difficult to tailor the education system to serve boys and girls equally well. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Additional impacts 38 Stunting and nutrition Over 40 percent of Pakistan’s under-five children are stunted, as compared to the South Asian average of 31 percent.13 Girls tend to have worse health outcomes. In Punjab, girls have a 27 percentage point higher chance of being severely stunted relative to boys.14 New factors such as social identity have also emerged as drivers of In Punjab, girls are 27% physical development, in Pakistan these are often associated with the fact that many families prioritize boys by sending them to school more likely than boys to where there may be school feeding programs and ensuring they are be severely stunted due better fed overall than their girl counterparts.15 to malnutrition. School feeding programs are common around the world and have positive impacts on the energy intake and micronutrient status of children and help reduce infections and morbidities.16 In Pakistan, a school feeding program in 29 of the poorest rural districts implemented a lunch program for two years in girls’ schools and found that malnutrition declined by almost half and enrollment increased by 40 precent.17 SECTION NOTES 1 INEE, 2023. 11 Ahmed, Haq and Bartiaux, 2019. 2 World Bank, 2021. 12 Zakar, Zakar, and Hamid, 2018. 3 World Bank, unpublished. 13 Ersado et al., 2023. 4 Ibid. 14 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 15 Qaisar and Karim, 2022. 6 Ibid. 16 Jomaa, McDonnell, and Probart, 2011. 7 Ibid. 17 Pappas et al., 2008. 8 Ibid. 9 Saavedra and Sherburne-Benz, 2022. 10 UN Women, 2022. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Additional impacts 39 5 Conclusion Despite progress in access and enrollment, girls still lag in educational opportunities. Girls, in comparison to boys, are less likely to be enrolled in school, less likely to stay in school, and less likely to learn even when they do attend school. Girls from rural areas suffer the worst educational outcomes and are the most susceptible to factors like poverty and sociocultural norms that prevent women from completing their education. 40 This report identifies five main challenges 3. There is a shortage of qualified teachers, for girls’ education in Pakistan and proposes particularly female teachers in rural solutions policy makers can take to overcome schools and at higher levels of schooling these barriers. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS → Accelerate teacher recruitment for vacant 1. Poverty continues to prevent children, positions, with a focus on hiring more female especially girls, from going to school teachers in rural areas Rs → 20 Improve training and professional development 10 and staying in school 5 for all teachers POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS → Develop a transparent deployment strategy to → Use incentives to target girls’ enrollment get more female teachers in rural posts → Replicate successful public-private partnerships (PPPs) to increase girls’ access to school 4. There remain some sociocultural beliefs and household factors that prevent girls 2. There are an insufficient number of from getting an education 5 km schools for girls to attend, especially at POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS the middle school and secondary levels → Develop targeted communications campaigns to POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS educate families about the benefits of girls’ education → Increase the supply of well-constructed and → Work with multiple stakeholders to reinforce the nearby schools, especially middle schools, so same message about the importance of girls’ that girls feel safe to attend school education → Focus on school expansion in areas with larger concentrations of rural girls 5. Without quality education available for all children, progress in educational enrollment and completion rates will remain slow. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Conclusion 41 There are no easy solutions to these challenges. To deliver a quality education for all children, policy makers will need to consider a combination of solutions, including increasing education expenditure and efficiency. On the next page, Table 4 aggregates the proposed solutions in this report along with the following parameters to assess them: The immediate benefit to The cost of the intervention The potential impact on How likely the intervention girls for their educational girls’ educational returns in can be scaled to a national All interventions have a financial opportunities cost. This parameter is meant to the long term or provincial level Given that girls make up the indicate whether the financial Educational returns namely Scaling an intervention is largest population of out-of- investment in the proposed refer to the increase in potential no easy feat. Scalability can school children, have lower solution is high or low. For earnings for girls if they be determined by various enrollment rates than boys, and example, building more schools complete their education. This dimensions: also have lower achievement is much more costly than paying parameter measures how strong for a communications campaign (i) the core elements of what of learning outcomes, this of an impact the proposed on social media platforms. actually will be scaled; parameter indicates how direct solution has for girls’ future of a benefit the proposed economic prospects. (ii) who will scale it; solution has to girls’ enrollment and/or learning. (iii) what is the implementation plan for scaling; and (iv) what evidence is available to ensure successful scaling.1 BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Conclusion 42 Table 4. Possible solutions and effect on girls’ education C HALLENG E POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS BENEFIT TO G IRLS COST IMPACT SC AL ABILIT Y To resolve these challenges, there is also the need for more Low investment Enhance PPPs and strengthen ●●○ ●○○ ●●● ●●● in education regulation, optimize infrastructure use, expand accurate and complete data. sector education system Many studies are qualitative and focus Low spending efficiency Strengthen multi-year planning, budgeting, and procurement ●●○ ●○○ ●●● ●●● on rural areas, and those are valuable for providing insights into families and with clearer development plans, girls’ perspectives from marginalized outcome based, and a shift to program-based budgeting communities. However, to have a better understanding of how various issues Poverty Incentives for enrollment, with a focus on girls ●●● ●●● ●●○ ●○○ intersect and come together to affect girls’ education, and to deploy better PPPs to increase access to school in underserved areas ●●● ●●○ ●●○ ●●○ targeted interventions, more research and disaggregated data need to be generated on the overall female student Insufficient number of Building more middle schools ●●○ ●●● ●●● ●●○ and teacher populations in Pakistan. post-primary While some progress has ●●● ●●● ●●● ●●○ schools Building more schools in areas with larger concentrations of been made, there is still work rural families to be done before girls in Pakistan are able to receive the Shortage of qualified Hiring more female teachers ●●○ ●●● ●●○ ●●○ education that they deserve to ●●● ●○○ ●●● ●●● teachers Improving training, content live healthy, empowered, and mastery and professional development productive lives. Developing a more strategic deployment system in ●●○ ●○○ ●●● ●●● particular for rural schools Sociocultural beliefs Communications campaigns ●●○ ●○○ ●●● ●●● Aligning stakeholders ●○○ ●○○ ●●● ●●● Note: The circles show the parameter on a scale of 1-3, with one filled circle (●○○) being low SECTION NOTES and three filled circles (●●●) being high. Source: Authors’ own table. 1 Adapted from: Kohl and Linn, 2022. BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | Conclusion 43 REFERENCES Ahmad, Nasir, Nasir Shaheen, and Sajjad Hussain. Bau, Natalie, and Jishnu Das. 2020. “Teacher Value Ersado, Lire, Amer Hasan, Koen Martijn Geven, 2022. “Professional Qualification: An Analysis Added in a Low-Income Country.” American Ashi Kohli Kathuria, Juan Barón, May Bend, and of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa New Teachers’ Economic Journal: Economic Policy 12 (1): 62–96. S. Amer Ahmed. 2023. Pakistan Human Capital Recruitment Policy.” Dialogue 17 (1): 38–52. 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ADDITIONAL C RE DITS Editing: Jee Yoon Lee | Photography: Insiya Syed | Graphic design: Elizabeth Salud BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES | Challenges and Solutions for Girls’ Education in Pakistan | References 47 BREAKING BARRIERS, IMPROVING FUTURES While some progress has been made, there is still work to be done before girls in Pakistan are able to receive the education that they deserve to live healthy, empowered, and productive lives. © 2024 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank