Balochistan: Region Has Lowest Female Literacy Rate In The World
Lawmakers, civil society representatives and NGOs in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province have stated that the region has the lowest female literacy rates anywhere in the world, with some women’s organisations claiming the authorities “were not making serious efforts to address this issue.” The region also has an increasing female mortality rate. Women and girls in the region have extremely poor access to education. They must often travel very far to go to school and there are very little middle-school facilities for them to continue their education. They often leave school without finishing or are taken out by their parents. Thus, the tragically poor support system in place for women’s education means they are generally unable to achieve higher education. Moreover, it is also very challenging for women to obtain ID cards, which are essential in order to gain access to funding from banks.
Below is an article by Global Village Space
Legislators, representatives of civil society and women working for NGOs have claimed that Balochistan has the lowest per capita rate of female education in the world.
Balochistan has the lowest rate of female education in the world according to Member of the Balochistan Assembly Sana Baloch, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Akhtar Hussain Langove, Chairman of the Standing Committee for Women Ahmad Nawaz Baloch, General Secretary of the Quetta Press Club Zafar Baloch and representatives of NGOs working for women and children rights, as they expressed their views on the matter in the province at a meeting on Tuesday.
They expressed their sincere concern over increasing female mortality rate, and claimed an expenditure of Rs110 billion was allocated to constructing buildings and other establishments on the premise of development, but not a single rupee was sent on service delivery in the province.
Pakistan neglecting education: lowest per capita rate of female education
Representatives of women’s rights organisations expressed concern over low female education rate in the province and said that the authorities concerned were not making serious efforts to address this issue.
“A large number of girls drop out of school due to various reasons. There is no middle school facility for them. They have to travel to far-flung areas and cities to get admission in educational institutions. They do not have transport facility to go to schools or colleges. They leave without completing education or their parents withdraw them from schools,” they said.
The number of girls’ schools in Balochistan is also very low. The government should set up more schools for girls and at the same time upgrade them so that the education of girls does not remain incomplete. Women also face great difficulty in obtaining ID cards.
At National Database and Registration Authority’s stations, only one day in a week is reserved for women while only one Nadra van is available for different areas and districts. Banks do not give loans to women in Balochistan to start businesses due to lack of identity, they said.
GVS News Desk with additional input by other sources
Photo: Baloch school girls. Credit: The Baloch News.
