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Writer's pictureMaha Waheed

Female education in rural Balochistan.





The biggest province in Pakistan, Balochistan, is about the size of France and makes up almost 43% of the nation's total land area. With barely 5% of the population living there and most dispersed in small villages, it is also the least populous province. These towns have mostly escaped the effects of modernisation and have received little attention from the government. The unfortunate outcome of this lack of resources for these rural communities is that education is severely underfunded for everybody, with women and girls suffering the most from this neglect. In rural Balochistan, the state of female education paints a bleak image. Although 80% of Pakistanis lack literacy, the situation is even worse for rural women in Balochistan. In Balochistan, less than 2% of rural women are said to be literate. Both literate and illiterate cultures place specific duties on women, such as cooking, cleaning the home, caring for and rearing children, and providing any other domestic assistance required by her husband and other family members. Also, other facts play a more significant role in this, such as the unavailability of girls-only schools; also, in Balochistan, a Primary school is present every 30 kilometres, and a secondary school after every 50km, which makes it impossible for girls to go to school due to lack of transportation, and the enrollment rate falls vigorously as we move to higher levels of education In rural Balochistan, the advantages of education for girls are just now beginning to be understood.

The government have introduced different programmes for increasing girls' education, like (MFTTU). The Mobile Female Teacher Training Unit (MFTTU) is a project that came up as a result of the awareness that girls and women in rural regions should have access to education and that their role in rural development depends on their increased engagement in the process. The MFTTU and the society have been able to coordinate community resources for girls' education in rural areas and train female teachers for the villages thanks to a collaboration between the Government of Balochistan, from the provincial to the district level, and international organisations like UNICEF, USAID, PED, TVO, World Bank, and the Society for Community Support for Primary Education Balochistan. The major goal of this initiative was to find qualified females from the communities who would work as primary teachers in the villages, increasing the number of girls enrolled in primary schools in rural regions. The main task is to provide these teachers with training close to and in their communities. Three years of study and practice have been beautifully woven together. Even though it is a great model in principle, many female instructors have dropped out in later years. They are now looking for alternative, straightforward ways to obtain the diploma from Allama Iqbal Open University Courses or other private schools.

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5 Comments


Iman Asif
Iman Asif
Dec 10, 2022

Very informative post!

Infrastructural, socioeconomic factors and religious factors play a big role in depriving girls of education in Balochistan. If we look at it from a slightly different angle, conflict plays a major part as well. The extremist organizations operating in the province perpetuate ideas about women having to stay home and push them toward domestic and reproductive responsibilities. Approximately, six out of every ten girls drop out of school and are married before the age of 18.

Lack of representation at the decision-making level and low quotas for political representation coupled with the ongoing conflict make mean there is little local contribution to education and policy framework.


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While researching for another course, I came across a stat that many women, who are considered employed, are reported in the 'no income' category in surveys in Balochistan. This is particularly interesting because these women fall under unpaid family workers, and so even though they put the work hours in, they aren't paid for their work. In many households in the region, women are seen purely as status symbols, meaning they aren't allowed to work or attend school. These cultural and religious barriers are obvious reasons for the lack of education growth, primarily for women, in Balochistan. The only way to counter this is the application of policies that ensure flexibility, mobility, and job security for women

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In rural Baluchistan around 90% of girls are deprived of schooling and this very well is because of a lack pf resources and the neglect of the state. However, it is also notable that the women in Baluchistan have no access to education due to cultural barriers. Sometimes they are forced to stay home rather than encouraged to compete with men out in the world. Women in Baluchistan have no expectation and dreams as there are very rare opportunities and many cultural barriers for them.

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Due to the neglect of Baluchistan as a province by the government, its population is further disadvantaged. For females present, there are many efforts being made to increase their access to education and increase the meagre 2% literacy rate of females. However, collaborations between the government of Baluchistan and international organizations like UNICEF and USAID are made on flimsy grounds as no substantial change is seen from these partnerships. Neither are their measures in place to cater to the massive dropout rates of female instructors as well. Another point of contention is the use of technology for the MFFTU program, considering the infrastructural constraints in Baluchistan.

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Balochistan is a blessed province with numerous natural resources. It is the richest province of Pakistan with the lowest population of all the provinces. But sadly, Baloch people are living the worst life in Pakistan despite being so rich. We have various educational woes within our territory which are begetting more and more illiterate citizens who can’t express themselves to anyone and our resources are being supplied to others. Most of the children in Balochistan are out of school. They are unaware of the good impacts of education and are instead doing labor for earning income. We can say that illiteracy gives birth to child marriage and labor in a nation. Meanwhile, this is not just with the girls but…

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