Socio-economic, cultural and religious factors obstruct girls’ education, says CM

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said socio-economic, cultural and religious factors obstruct girls’ education and deprive them of opportunities to learn and develop into agents of change for our society.

“It is only through education that girls are nourished and groomed as responsible citizens, capable of playing a positive and creative role in social development,” he said while speaking at the launching ceremony of a ‘Research Study on Issues of Girls’ Education in Sindh’, conducted by the Sindh Education Foundation on the initiative of the provincial ombudsman, at the CM House on Thursday.

Shah said he had assigned a top priority to girls' education and planned to allocate greater resources for the purpose. “Obstructions to girls’ education -- traditional, administrative and financial -- will be removed and a conducive environment for promoting girls education will be ensured.”

“It is in our national interest that this important and sensitive issue is addressed on an urgent basis, with consistency and resolve to muster all essential components for promoting girls’ education,” he said.

The importance of girls’ education could hardly be overemphasised, Shah said and added that in fact it was part of the vision of the late Benazir Bhutto who wanted women’s development on all fronts, which included education, employment and social uplift. “Be it the first women’s bank, first women police station, women empowerment, or education for girls, it was the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma to take this initiative.”

The CM stated that Benazir Bhutto had initiated concrete measures for implementing and realising women’s true potential and their positive and constructive role for nation-building. “Her vision was to invest in girls’ education as being the stepping stone for the empowerment of women,” he said.

Shah said it was unfortunate that despite efforts of the government, girls’ education had been lagging behind. “The multiple causes for this situation have been aptly highlighted in the study paper,” he said and added girls must have the right to get education as enshrined in the constitution and laws; otherwise, we would remain trapped in ignorance and poverty.

The CM said he had gone through the report and its recommendations. He advised the education department to make efforts to put the recommendations into action. He directed the local administrations at all levels -- divisional, district, sub-division and Taluka -- to devote time and attention to ensuring proper functioning of girls’ schools in their areas.

He also directed the chief secretary to incorporate the component of smooth functioning of girls' schools in the performance evaluation of local officers. Supporting the idea that school management committees (SMCs) should be headed by mothers, the CM directed the education department to bring necessary changes to the rules to make it mandatory for the girls' schools. He said the BISP (Benazir Income Support Programme) had been one of the great success stories of the Peoples Party’s government acknowledged by international agencies.

He added that in order to incentivise girls’ education, the conditional cash transfers system under the BISP should be linked with the girl students’ enrolment in schools. “The education department should initiate necessary action in this regard,” he said and added a similar system to reward better performing schools on a gender parity basis be introduced to create an atmosphere of healthy competition.

Research report

To investigate issues relating to girls' education, particularly in Sindh, the provincial ombudsman awarded consultancy to the Sindh Education Foundation to carry out a research study on the subject.

The study is funded by International Ombudsman Institute under a regional subsidy programme. The key objectives of the study are to identify the dynamics of socio-cultural, economic, political, religious and supply-side factors, hampering the gains of girls' education in Sindh.