Even the most cursory look at Pakistan’s education statistics paints a bleak picture, particularly for girls and women. More than 12 million girls are out of school, a number that is staggering in what it entails for our future. Over the past few decades, despite much discussions and a few initiatives, girls’ education still remains a hinderance in the country’s plans for progress and economic stability.
At almost every level of education, boys outnumber girls among school going children. For those parents who do want to send their girls to school, a huge challenge is the lack of educational institutions within reasonable traveling distance. Cultural norms and conservative attitudes, along with poverty and lack of security, are formidable obstacles in girls education.
From among the determined few who make it through schools to pursue higher education, many are denied opportunities because of early marriages. 21 percent girls are married off before they reach 18, further reducing the number of females in educational institutions.
Higher education fares slightly better. Around 60 percent of the students enrolled in graduate programs are female.
No progress without girls education
Mired in its deepest financial crisis in decades, Pakistan is now at the point where reforms are an absolute necessity, vital for its survival. Those reforms do not just include financial reforms but also increasing Pakistan’s incomes through various means. Lawmakers spend hours making rules and regulations for different industries, provide incentives for different sectors but ignore that simply improving girls’ education statistics would create perhaps the most lasting impact on our economy, much more so than most other reforms will.
Multiple studies and research by such prestigious organisations such as Lancet, World Bank, United Nations, WHO, Atlantic Monthly and Scientific American show that educated girls are more likely not just to earn better but also to survive childbirth, marry later, have healthier children, invest in her community and be safer.
Rays of sunshine
As dark as the picture is, there are rays of sunlight offering hope. The Malala Fund has been paving the way for girls to access education since 2017. Having herself gone through trauma in her quest to gain education, Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, through her organisation, has worked tirelessly to address barriers that prevent girls from gaining education, increasing government funding and increasing girls’ access to science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
OPP Scholarships at University of Oxford
Three remarkable female scholars, two from Pakistan and one from Palestine, have become the latest recipients of scholarships supported by Malala Yousafzai under the Oxford Pakistan Program (OPP) at University of Oxford.
Recently, Malala met with Pakistan’s Zainab Aziz and Ayeda Hamid, and Palestine’s Suha Albanna at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. All three are pursuing graduate studies at Oxford. The event welcomed Pakistani scholars for 2024 and highlighted the transformative role of OPP in empowering talented students.
Malala first met privately with the three women to have a heartfelt discussion about their journeys, challenges and aspirations.
The main reception was attended by LMH Principal Stephen Blyth, Oxford Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey, and OPP donors Suleman Raza and Hamid Ismail. Malala emphasized the importance of education in unlocking potential and fostering societal progress, particularly for women. She expressed gratitude to OPP donors for their support and reflected on the programme’s impact, which has supported over 50 scholars in its four years.
Malala underscored the OPP’s mission of providing world-class education to deserving students and envisioned a brighter, education-driven future for Pakistan.
“I believe that initiatives like Oxford Pakistan Programme, where Pakistani students come to Oxford University to receive world class education and then return to server their communities in Pakistan, have the potential to change the course of Pakistan’s future,” Malala said.
She reflected on OPP’s impact in fostering a vibrant and diverse community of scholars at the University, applauding LMH for its unwavering support for the programme.
The Nobel Laureate then expressed gratitude for the programme’s supporters and donors. “Together we are investing in a future where every deserving student, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to excel and contribute to society,” she stated.
Through programmes such as OPP, through organisations such as The Malala Fund and through the government’s firm commitment to enrolling more female students, Pakistan indeed has a chance to walk out of the financial quagmire it finds itself in. The way to prosperity lies through every home that has a girl waiting for educational opportunity.
