By: Samiullah Somroo
For the development of a nation education is the dynamic strength. Whether a country is developed or not it is only decided by its educational level because national economy firmly based on educated nation. Only educated people of the country can bring wealth, prosperity and fame to the country which helps in development of a nation. Education plays vital role to lead a nation from poverty into prosperity. Education is most important from primary level to degree level but tertiary level (college, university and higher education) is the most important. This is the only stage of education in which students learn about their field of specialization and become able to get job in markets. But if we look on the female population belongs to 15-24 years age, unfortunately 54.71% (34,912,732) of adult female population is illiterate in Pakistan. It is beyond belief piece of information that female enrollment is highest at primary level but sorry to say with time it drops off at tertiary level (colleges and universities) of education.
The female illiterate % of rural areas is much higher than urban because urban families have more accessibility of education; parents of urban girls are knowledgeable, well educated, wealthy, more modernized and westernized hence they acknowledge the importance of education and guide their girls to pursue higher education. The environment in which urban families inhabit supports educational trends where as in rural areas if a girl luckily take step towards higher education after her selection to university she is discouraging by their surrounding families because most of the families in rural areas are conservative without education background. Due to insignificant support system women belong to rural areas have to work harder than women of urban areas. Parents play major role in the higher education of girls if the parents of rural areas are accepting their girls for higher education they still can’t go since most of them are poor and unable to afford expenses because universities are often so away from rural areas. In some cases, rural girls become compel to leave their higher education in their first year and second year due to financial support and other rural conservative norms like, marriages of girls before completion of higher education and expecting girls to stay at homes for looking after as house wives. Majority of rural people believe that it is against Islam that if women go to universities for higher education but same people have no any objection when women working day and night in the fields. Parents favor education to their sons because they think daughters are not future earning hands. Pakistan considered as a lowest literacy rate of women educational country among the World due to these social, cultural and traditional based beliefs. People’s productivity, creativity, entrepreneurship, agricultural productivity, business investment, technological advances, modern health facilities and selection of quality of minds only can be raise through education of our youth including both male and female without gender discrimination.
In Pakistan, a particularly rural area the corridor to a higher education for women is worst and doesn’t yield the same result as that of men and policies of higher education support only urban areas. Unfortunately, rural areas always have been neglected from government officials at tertiary level (College and University) education. The women play vital role to build the society towards the developed nation. The one said that “if you educate a man you educate a man but if you educate a woman you educate a generation.” It is my request to our government officials that they must have to take serious step towards the education of rural women to develop the nation because a nation can’t travel to development without educated women.
The writer is Working as a Research Associate (HEC-Research Project) in department of Zoology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro. He can be reached at samiullah.soomro@scholars.usindh.edu.pk