Girls Dropping Out From Primary Schools of Pakistan: A Critical Examination of Causes and Remedial Measures

Abstract

Pakistan, with an estimated population of 159,762,500 as of March 2007, is a developing country, where issues like poverty, unemployment and lack of educational opportunities are quite visible. Among them, the situation of female education presents a very bleak scenario and the rural sector is the most deprived in terms of educational prospects. A vast majority of girls have either never seen schools in their lives or drop out even before completing their primary education. The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes that result in female dropout from primary schools and to identify remedial measures to address this issue. Particularly, this paper will answer the following question: what are the school, policy, administrative, family, culture, and economic related causes of massive female dropout rate? In order to find the remedial measures the study looks at the experiences of the neighboring countries where they have been quite successful in addressing this issue of dropout. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have been adopted to develop this research paper. To assess the perspectives of NGOs and academicians on this particular issue, survey questionnaires were distributed besides conducting interviews from academicians and professionals from leading NGOs of Pakistan. Lack of resources on part of the government, accessibility, and poverty of the parents are the three issues that appeared responsible for this state of affairs. The findings of this study could be beneficial for the Pakistani government, national NGOs and donor organizations working in the field of educational development. The results of this study would lead these organizations to adopt approaches that could be compatible according to ground realities.

Disciplines

International and Comparative Education | Women's Studies

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