DOHA: Reach Out To Asia’s (ROTA) is working with CARE International Pakistan to help children and young women gain better access to quality primary and secondary school education.
While literacy rates among girls in Pakistan are improving, a large gender gap in literacy persists. According to the Gender Equality Report on Pakistan, even though there have been substantial improvements in both boys’ and girls’ primary school net enrolment since 2003, the net enrolment of girls at primary level remains low at 67 percent compared to 81 percent for boys.
Girls in Pakistan are often not permitted to attend school unless they have a female teacher, but there are fewer female teachers than male teachers, particularly in rural areas. In addition, absenteeism among female teachers is higher than among male teachers.
According to USAID, the percentage of female primary teachers who are trained to teach in Pakistan is 76 percent compared to 91 percent of male primary teachers; while female teachers in private schools are paid 30 percent less than their male counterparts. Twenty-eight year-old Seema, who comes from an impoverished family in the Swat District, is one such woman whose dreams of pursuing a higher education were all but stifled, not only by traditional expectations, but also by a lack of financial means.
ROTA, in collaboration with CARE’s local partner, the Initiative for Development & Empowerment Axis (IDEA), has helped to establish an education project designed to enable young women faced with cultural barriers and financial constraints to further their studies. Launched in January 2015, the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) is helping young women, like Seema, to complete higher education and pursue a career.
Before Seema was presented with the opportunity to further her studies, she was a volunteer teacher tutoring young girls in Pakistan’s Swat Valley who were severely limited by a lack of educational means. When Seema began her volunteer teacher role, a primary school is all that existed.
The Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) launched in Government Girls Primary Schools (GGPS), and began hiring teachers for the project. It was at this time that Seema applied for the ALP head teacher position; a role she successfully secured. Seema subsequently underwent 18 days of training to build her capacity as a teacher.
“I am very grateful to ROTA, CARE Pakistan and IDEA for helping me realise my dreams and seeing the potential in me. Although I faced many barriers which prevented me from furthering my education for a long time, I remained hopeful that I would one day be able to realise my goals.”
The Peninsula
