Engaging Men for Gender Justice: Overcoming Barriers to Girls’ Education in the Pashtun Tribes of Northern Pakistan
Creators: name: Jamal, Aamir
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Education
subject: Girls' Education
subject: International Development
subject: Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO)
subject: Gender and Development
subject: Pakistan
subject: Pashtun

description: Girls’ access to education in developing countries has received significant attention from the international community in the past decade. However, continuing cycles of war and conflict, extremism, and the introduction of strict cultural and religious ideologies have further complicated and magnified the issue of gender justice and girls' education in Northwest Pakistan. The substantial impact of these issues is most clearly visible in the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, where recent reports estimated enrolment of only 3 to 13 percent of primary school-aged girls in primary schools (UNICEF, 2010; UNDP, 2011). The majority of studies and efforts have been focused on supply-side issues, such as infrastructure, school buildings, resources, and financial supports, whereas demand-related factors, such as perceptions and opinions of stakeholders (parents, community leaders, and family decision-makers), have not been closely and thoroughly examined. Pashtun men from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province in Pakistan hold the social and cultural power to either create obstacles to women’s education or remove them. A two-round modified Delphi exercise followed by in-depth qualitative interviews with Pashtun men of diverse backgrounds produced: (1) An investigation of how male perceptions of female education and discourses of power construct barriers to girls’ (ages 7-15) education; and (2) an identification of ways of overcoming those barriers through the involvement of Pashtun men. Contradictory ideas and stereotypes arising from religion, culture, and politics were found to meaningfully shape male perceptions of women’s participation in education. The study's findings are as follows. First, the study revealed that the perception of women in the Pashtun tribes is constructed in the context of Pashtunwali (tribal code) and religious interpretation. However, compared to rural and tribal areas, these traditions and restrictions are not as rigidly practiced in the urban and plains areas of KPK. Second, Panel members developed a consensus on seven major barriers to girls’ access to education: Pashtunwali, religion, poverty, insecurity and extremism, severe shortage of female teachers, poor accessibility to schools, and lack of interest and commitment of the government. Third, the community distrusts and has a negative perception of NGOs. They are perceived as foreign agents with a hidden agenda and as being involved in a wide range of corruption. Attributes of an ideal NGO were identified. Fourth, Pashtun men developed consensus in recommending: engage Masharan (village elders) and Imams in girls' education programs; use Hujra (community center) and Jirga (council of elders) as central points to involve men in outreach programs; maintain strong relationships and effective coordination between NGOs and government education departments at both local and central levels; increase number and safety of girls-only schools; increase number, quality of, and safety for female teachers; respond to local needs and religious and cultural sensitivities in curriculum design and overall school environment by involving community elders in the decision making process; establish Masjid (Mosque)or Hujra schools in smaller rural communities; provide support and incentives to needy families for sending their girls to school such as a school food supplementation programme; and enhance political will and commitment of government by making girls’ education a priority item in education reforms and policy dialogue at both national and international levels.