A RECENTLY held conference in Islamabad on the aforesaid subject is a valuable move to address the appalling condition of girls’ education in most Muslim societies. The conclusion of Clandon and his colleagues’ study of Muslim societies (2018) tells us what is obvious, that “At the global level, Muslim women are less educated and have wider gender gaps than all other religious groups. …” This is a predictable conclusion, given our perceptions and attitude towards education.
This is regrettable because we claim that education is an integral part of our faith. Yet it seems that the appeal to religion for literacy has not always helped. If it had, most Muslim countries should have been ahead of other nations. We do not hear non-Muslim communities begging parents to educate their girls. Education today is essential to survive in a competitive world. It is said that weakness invites aggression, and anybody today not armed with education is a very weak person indeed! If knowledge is power, the knowledgeable are invincible in a knowledge society.
I am inclined to think that often, the need and necessity of the times push people to seek education. I want to cite an example to demonstrate the point. Hunza valley was very backward till around the 1970s, girls’ schools being non-existent. But when the late Prince Karim Aga Khan started establishing girls’ schools (although boys’ schools existed since the 1940s) in the 1980s, that is when girls started attending schools.
A famous slogan inspired the local community. It had been given by Aga Khan III, grandfather of Prince Karim. He had urged his community that if a couple had two children — a girl and a boy — and if they were able to educate only one, educate the girl!
He had argued that if you educate the girl, she would educate the whole family. The boy can survive by doing even menial jobs, but an educated girl is an asset to the family. This guidance inspired the community but it took some time before schools were established due to the financial constraints of the time.
If you educate the girl, she’ll educate the whole family.
However, the actual impetus for girls’ education came when girls engaged in gainful employment after receiving higher education. When their family fortunes improved, others were inspired to send their girls to school despite cultural barriers. Today, there are many young women professionals, doctors, nurses, PhD scholars, police and public administrators in rural and urban Pakistan.
Many have even moved overseas for better opportunities. Today, education, in that area, is not necessarily only a religious duty but a basic human need to survive. They are now in an envious position as they live with dignity and respect with a better quality of life. The community provided an ‘enabling environment’, which provided stimulus for girls to excel.
Coming to the larger picture of girls’ education, the ‘enabling environment’ that is being talked about is largely missing. In fact, disabling factors abound in Pakistan. Studies show that some of the primary disabling factors includethe pathetic state of schools, lack of basic facilities, such as washrooms, absence of electricity and lack of security, especially for girls. Ansari and Ali (2024) of the Aga Khan University cite security of school buildings (no boundary wall), as one of the major factors standing in the way of girls’ education. In addition, lack of educational materials, boring and irrelevant curricula, shortage of teachers, bad teaching methods, corporal punishment, absence of libraries and other learning materials, are other disabling factors.
As an educator at a private university for many years, working with heads of schools and district education officers, I am inclined to believe that all stakeholders — not just the government — parents, community leaders, and particularly women, need to be involved in making sure they create an enabling environment for all children to go to, and come back from, school with dignity.
Apparently, in some tribal societies, girls’ education has been perceived as being against Islam, but to me, this is more a cultural and tribal pretext, rather than a religious issue. In most tribal or conservative societies, women are seen as less than human, and their education is perceived to be least rewarding, in fact, detrimental, to the tribal way of life. Yet those who move to urban societies start sending their children to educational institutions. Environment does make a difference.
In conclusion, the basic disabling factors cited above need to be addressed. We need to find more out-of-the-box solutions. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches must be tested. It is an unending struggle, but we have no other choice.
The writer is an educationist with an interest in the study of religion and philosophy.
(Opinion) Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2025
