This paper looks at female primary education and the paradoxes prevailing within the educational system of Sindh province in Pakistan. Why is there greater female student drop out despite government and I/NGOs initiatives? Why is there substantial gender disparity in primary schools despite the fact that the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, national education policies (1992-2012 and 1998-2012) and international commitments (Millennium Development Goals and Education For All) ensure right to education? 

Sindh was the first province of Pakistan to initiate an Education Bill in 1947 (Qureshi, Pirzado and Nasim 2007). Despite this there is widespread illiteracy, high dropout rate, large number of ghost schools and poor quality of education.  Though various efforts have been taken by the government, international and national NGOs in achieving international commitments in education sector, these efforts do not seem enough for vital change in education in Sindh.

Gender relations play an important role in reducing dropout rate. The relationship is based on the power mechanism. This power mechanism may be understood if e.g. the females and males in Sindh are taken as binary oppositions based on power relations. The male uses various tactics in subjugating the females, especially her right to education. These tactics are reflected in two ways: First, the female is under the constant gaze/scrutiny (Foucault 1975; Cheong and Miller 2000) of a male in rural Sindh. A girl child requires permission from her father/brothers for seeking education. She is followed by the male gaze all the way to school and back. The male members of her family decide her educational level, marriage and domestic roles and responsibilities which ultimately affects her schooling. Second, during school she learns in a gendered environment where most of the time teachers, school administration and manual staff members are males[1] who stereotype her as a weak gender and prefer male students over her during school activities like student council elections, seating arrangements, attendance, co-curriculum activities and sports.

Apart from issues of demand and supply (Qureshi 2012; Lloyd et al. 2007 ) and economic poverty (Calclough 2012), these tactics of the male as a subjugator have influenced female education gravely. They have also created barriers at the wider societal level in achieving higher female literacy. According to the Pakistan Rural Household Survey 2012 (Round 1), 44% of individuals in Pakistan are literate (59% males and 30% females). Sindh has the lowest literacy rates: only 38% of males and 15% of females are literate (Nazli et al. 2012).

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in rural Sindh, this paper analyses the above paradoxes by taking Foucault’s theoretical concepts like discourse, power and gaze (Foucault 1972, 1980) in understanding the situation. The female literacy rate may improve if stakeholders (especially policy makers and civil society organisations) consider the role of gender relations and power mechanisms based on the cultural environment of rural Sindh. More female schools, female teachers and female representation in public sector departments of education, may bring positive change.

References

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Foucault, M. 1975, The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception,  Vintage Books, New York, USA.

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Qureshi, M. G. 2012, ‘The Gender Differences in School Enrolment and Returns to Education in Pakistan’, Working Papers & Research Reports, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, , accessed 30 August 2013.

Qureshi, R. Pirzado, P. Nasim, S. 2007, ‘Schooling in Rural Sindh’, in R. Qureshi and J. Rarieya (ed.), Gender and Education in Pakistan, Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan.