Women's education in Pakistan

Women's education in Pakistan is a fundamental right of every female citizen, according to article thirty-seven of the Constitution of Pakistan,[1] but gender discrepancies still exist in the educational sector. According to the 2011 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Program, approximately twice as many males as females receive a secondary education in Pakistan, and public expenditures on education amount to only 2.7% of the GDP of the country.

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 * When the British first introduced their system of “modern” education to India, there was some resistance. For historical reasons this was strongest among the Muslims of north India, and there was great reluctance in these areas to send girls to school. By the turn of the century the situation had changed considerably. With the emergence of a growing nationalist sentiment, women’s education began to receive some support. But, while one group of advocates believed that education should give women greater awareness and augment their human development, another group fought to establish institutions, such as the “Zenana” (women’s) schools in Lahore, that would counter what they saw as the insidious undermining of values and morals caused by modern education. Consequently, even before Pakistan was cre- ated there were two opposing camps: one that believed that edu- cation could free women from their social shackles and one that intended to use education to further consolidate the constraints ‘on women. This conflict has never been resolved, and women’s ‘education in Pakistan remains a victim of contradictory policies. The ongoing debate about whether a separate women’s university should be established is a case in point. In Pakistan the pro- posal is opposed by female activists, who view it as a subtle method to further marginalize women by circumscribing the type of education available to them. They fear that with a separate university women will find it increasingly difficult to be admitted to high-quality institutions (particularly in technical and profes- sional fields), while the course offered in the women’s university would be limited to “female-appropriate” subjects.
 * The Politics of Women's Education Perspectives from Asia, Africa, and Latin America 1995 Editors: Jill Ker Conway, Susan C. Bourque