Why girls education is the most important investment Pakistan and the world can make - Essay Example

? Why Girls’ Education is the Most Important Investment Pakistan and the World can Make Why Girls’ Education is the Most Important Investment Pakistan and the World can Make Pakistan is one of the countries with alarming rates of illiteracy after its recent ranking as the 113th country among 120 that have the lowest education levels. The political scenario has served to disrupt the stability of education in the country. Currently, the education system has registered minimal progress, but there are concerted efforts from different organizations and the government that seek to make a difference in Pakistan. The value of education in improving the welfare of any society cannot be underestimated, explaining why Pakistan should strive to improve its education system. Mostimportantly, educating girls presets more impact on any society, the ore reason why Pakistan should work towards on tackling the gender disparity evident in the education system. This paper will describe the challenges faced by Pakistan, statistics of education and outline strategies that Pakistan can use in its efforts to improve education in the country. Pakistan has received ranking as one of the countries with the lowest levels of education, and with a high gender disparity level in both school enrolment and retention of girls. The country has an overwhelming 27 million school-age children who have no access to education. The country has an unacceptably low investment in the education sector. Moreover, the political unrest and militancy has served to destroy many educational facilities in the region (Tanveer,2013).TheUnited Nations has identified the country as one of its targets in setting up new education strategies (UNESCO, 2012). With the realization that the society is lagging behind in so many aspects, education remains to be the only tool that can change the dwindled society for better. The fact that multiple organizations from the international community have offered the country with funds to improve their welfare to no avail; it becomes evident that the only viable solution is promotion of education (Sen, 2012). Millennium Development Goals In the description of the millennium development goals, the United Nations had highlighted that each child, especially in the third world countries, would have access to education. The specific target defined that by 2015, both boys and girls from every region would have opportunity to enroll and complete primary schooling. Although there is some progress registered in other countries, Pakistan has lagged behind with about 27 million school age children out of school. Worse still, 7 million of these children have never been to a classroom (Mohiuddin, 2007). The situation in Pakistan is worrying because there are only two years before 2015, and a great number of children lack access to education. This emphasizes on the need for the development of new strategies that can improve the education sector in Pakistan. Education of Girls is Important Research on the need to empower girls has indicated that educating girls transforms the entire society. Educated girls often make decision that can affect the society. After education, girls can access employment, a factor that serves to reduce poverty. Moreover, educated women realize the need to plan their families wisely, reducing the explosion of population that is evident in societies where girls lack education (Siddiqui,2013). Education of girls contributes positively in improving the health of the society. This is because education empowers girls and women to promote health within the family by adoptive preventive measures, seek to access maternal health and nutrition recommendations. Educating girls in a society also reduces child mortality rate immensely. Lack of education compels girls to venture into early marriages, but research has indicated that each additional year of retaining girls in school reduces chances of early marriages. Evidently, educated girls realize that they have a duty to participate in political, civil, and developmental forums that define the critical issues in any society (United Nations Girls Education Initiative, 2013). The Pakistan society faces multiple challenges, and educating girls can help in transforming the society positively (Markey,2013). Statistics of the Pakistan Education Hurdles Despite its efforts to improve education, Pakistan still has a high number of children lacking access to education (Nichols,2013). According to a report compiled by the Pakistan government, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the country has over 6.5 million children not having access to primary education, and an additional 2.7 million that have lack access to lower secondary level education (Mansoor, 2013). Moreover, the country posts alarming rates of girls that lack access to education, revealing the disturbing gender disparity in the education sector. 38.9% of girls are out of school, compare to 30.2 % boys. School enrollment also depends on the socio-economic factors because 49.2% of children from poor regions lack an opportunity to school while only 17.5% from rich regions miss an opportunity to attend school. The country has very low retention levels with 42.8% of children dropping out of school before completion. Further research has revealed many ghost schools exist in Pakistan that do not operate especially in regions where poverty has a taken a toll (Haider, 2008). The militancy and terrorism activities in the region have led to the destruction of over 3000 schools. This makes it evident that learning institutions and facilities are inadequate(Sahoutara and Saif, 2013). Reasons why Pakistan has not Invested in Education Pakistan has multiple problems that challenge its wellbeing. The country has focused on addressing militancy, terrorism, corruption, political unrest, and economic strife that it has neglected the potential benefits of investing in education (Great Britain, 2013). The country has failed to conduct sufficient research that can offer reliable data that can be used in the formulation of specific policies. Moreover, even when data is available, there have been reports of underutilization of such data in defining target strategies to address the surging education hurdles (Sahoutara and Saif, 2013). The country has a high insurgency rate, coupled with a chaotic nature of both the state and the society has contributed to the little attention accorded to education in Pakistan (CNN International News, 2013).There is minimal awareness of the potential benefits of education in the society, a factor that has made many parents ignorant on the need to send their children to school. In other cases, parents lack the resources required to afford their children an education. Pakistan has held onto a feudal nature that has contributed to the existing education hurdles (Haq,2013). Pakistan has sidelined democratization efforts, a factor that has contributed to the existing complexity of terrorism, corruption, and crime. Education cannot thrive in such conditions (Bhattacharya, 2013). Why Pakistan should Increase Investment in Education UNESCO has identified Pakistan as one of the countries that has made minimal efforts of improving the education sector in order to meet the defined millennium development goals (UNESCO, 2013). The country has a negative history in its focus on education. The country has existed for 68 years but has never increased its education investment beyond the 3% mark (Memon,2007). It is unfortunate that the country reduced its allocation for the education sector from 2.6% to 2.3%. Increasing the government investment towards the education sector will offer the 27 million children out of school an opportunity to access education (Muborakshoeva,2012). Such funding will provide government schools with resources, presenting poor children with a chance to receive education. Since education has the potential of transforming the entire society, a funding of 3-5% will illustrate Pakistan’s commitment to meet the millennium development goals on education (Ashraf,2012). With effective policies formulated to address the current challenges, an increased funding can help in ensuring the enrollment of more children into schools. Such funding can see to it that the two thirds of girls out of school get an opportunity to study. The education system of Pakistan needs restructuring to ensure that schools are operational and eliminates ghost schools (Aljazeera News, 2013). Conclusion As described above, Pakistan still lags behind in the education sector. Multiple factors such as crime, war, terrorism, poverty, and political unrest explain why the country has failed to give the education sector the required attention. Moreover, there is gender disparity in the number of children enrolled and retained in schools, with a greater percentage of girls lacking access to education. There is need for the government to increase funding towards education, and especially girls, because empowering girls helps transform the society in many ways. References Aljazeera News. (2013). Pakistan Education Hurdles. Retrieved on 5th November 2013 fromhttp://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201310310105-0023158 Ashraf, M. (2012). Globalization and education policy of Pakistan: the challenges of access and equity in education. Retrieved on 5th November 2013 fromhttp://www.periglobal.org/sites/periglobal.org/files/9.Globalisation&Education_Policy_Pakistan%28Ashraf%29.pdf Bhattacharya, S. (2013). Pakistan’s dismal education prospects. Retrieved on 5th November 2013 fromhttp://www.eastasiaforum.org/2013/09/26/pakistans-dismal-education-prospects/ CNN International News. (2013). Pakistan’s educational challenges. 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Education in Pakistan: the issues, problems and the new challenges. Journal of management and social sciences, 3(1), 47-55. Mohiuddin, Y. N. (2007). Pakistan: A global studies handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.: ABC-Clio. Muborakshoeva, M. (2012). Islam and higher education: Concepts, challenges and opportunities. London: Routledge. Nichols, M. (2013). Pakistan’s Malala challenges world leaders to educate Syrian refugees. Retrieved on 5th November 2013 fromhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/23/us-un-assembly-malala-idUSBRE98M0XA20130923 Sahoutara, N., and Saif, S. (2013). Pakistan’s ghost schools, rusting symbols of a nation’s lost potential. Retrieved on 5th November 2013 fromhttp://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/pakistan-039-s-ghost-schools-rusting-symbols-of-a-nation-039-s-lost-potential/education-corruption-abandoned-schools-malala-pakistan/c3s13882/#.UnfKuVO3UXW Sen, A. (2012). To build a country, build a schoolhouse. 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