The only thing better than education is more education; says Ms. Gillani at Population Council’s Consultation on Girls Schooling

The only thing better than education is more education; says Ms. Gillani at Population Council’s Consultation on Girls Schooling

Islamabad, Thursday, December 22, 2011:
Ms. Syeda Batool Gillani, Goodwill Ambassador for Women Empowerment today called for increasing access and opportunities to education for young women so that they could play their role in Pakistan’s development.

Ms. Gilani made these comments at a major consultation meeting organized by the Population Council, Islamabad on Thursday, 22^nd December, 2011 entitled,
“ Exploring the Power of Girls Schooling”, where she was the guest of honor. The meeting was chaired by Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sectors. Representatives from the government, donors, academics and the
NGO sectors were also present at the event.

The Population Council in Islamabad is recognized as one of the premier social science and public health research organization that responds to the pressing population and health needs of the country.  In her
welcoming remarks, Dr. Zeba Sathar, Country Director, Population Council, Islamabad spoke on the importance of girls schooling and its linkages to improvements in a society.

 Research presented by the Population Council covered various aspects of girls’ schooling from up-scaling access and quality of schooling to how these improvements can help improve Pakistan’s socio-economic indicators.

The good news is in terms of girls schooling. Access and choice of schools has improved over the years, especially after 2000. The access to school for rural girls has clearly improved not just for primary but for middle level
schooling. Enrollment rates for girls have seen clear visible improvements but dropout rates still remain high.

The research has also showed that the quality of schools has improved but not dramatically and private schools still fare better on quality indicators with few exceptions such as subsidies and teacher qualifications. Poorer households
are still severely constrained in sending girls to school. It is only the richest households who can send girls to private schools especially at older ages. Clearly, more schools increase enrollments, but
ultimately it is the quality of schools that is very important!

Employment, as an incentive to educate girls, both for the parents and the girls themselves, is dependent largely on the availability of employment opportunities. Where these opportunities exist, the economic benefits of schooling
are greater than where they do not. Young women vocational training or those with more than 10 years of schooling also have better chances of off-farm employment. Therefore there should be more emphasis on retaining girls in school beyond the primary and middle
level is required as well as creating off-farm employment opportunities.

In her speech, the Guest of Honor, Ms. Gillani said that Pakistan faces two great challenges; high population growth and low levels of female literacy and enrolment. With poverty levels, and unemployment also increasing, Ms. Gilani
continued, we need to think quickly and effectively to escape this vicious circle.

Ms. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sectors, spoke of the challenges facing Pakistan and the efforts of the present government in overcoming these challenges by pushing through policies and
reforms which will help reverse Pakistan’s poor performing development indicators.

What we had heard today, Ms. Wazir Ali continued, should convince us that the choice of schools, the impact of the type and level and schooling are important factors in determining a young woman’s choice of work, marriage and the
bearing of healthy children. A woman’s choice of schools and bearing healthy children, Ms. Wazir Ali said in conclusion, can be considered the spirit of empowerment, and we must deliver on this promise to the millions of Pakistani girls of school-going age.

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Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Dec 22 2011. Filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry