The core of the malaise

Last week, 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai secured a nomination for this year’s coveted Nobel Peace Prize. And the young girl from Swat certainly deserves it — both the nomination and the Prize — for she was resilient in times when no one dared to be.

Barely a teenager when she started writing, Malala chronicled her life, under Taliban rule, for the BBC with great diffidence, for her greatest sorrow was that she was not allowed to go to school in those troubled times — primarily because she was a girl.

Shot by the Taleban in October last year for her candid, outspoken views, Malala found support and recognition — both internationally and at home, where passionate cries from all sections of the society called for her perpetrators to be brought to justice.

However, three months on, Malala’s insistence that education is imperative for positive change in Pakistan remains a fringe issue. Much needs to be done before Malala can realise her dream of universal, quality education for Pakistani girls. And unfortunately, Pakistan is lagging far, far behind in the very cause that Malala emphasised with such courage and understanding.

According to the 2009-2010 Pakistan Economic Survey, Pakistan spends only 2.1 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on education. A new Unesco report states that in Pakistan, girls make up two-thirds of the children who do not attend school — the second highest rate in the world. It also points out that Pakistan reduced its spending on education last year.

As I always say, poverty is the root cause behind gender disparity in education in Pakistan. When poor families feel forced to make a choice between educating their sons or daughters, girls are often left out. A boy is sometimes seen as a better investment because he will eventually provide for the family, while a girl may soon be married off. As such, cultural bias means that girls cannot access one of their most basic rights.

Especially after the Malala shooting incident, parents also want to know that their daughters will be safe going to school, considering that often they must travel long distances on unsafe routes. NGOs and civil society can step in to help mobilise the community in this regard. Parents, along with civil society, can arrange rides for girls from their neighbourhoods to schools and back.

In addition, many schools lack proper sanitation facilities for female students. In some cases, these needs can be met quickly and at a very nominal cost. The UN conducted studies in Pakistan to look at what affected girls’ school attendance and found that the number of girls attending school increased enormously when flush toilets and private bathrooms were installed. Although basic facilities are not discussed much when it comes to education, they can sometimes make all the difference for the female students.

Lastly, in some more conservative villages, the tradition is that girls are taught by female educators only. Unfortunately, female teachers are something of a rarity in Pakistan’s rural communities due to low adult literacy rates and the reluctance of educated women from other areas to travel or live away from homes. To address this issue, the government must be willing to spend more to train and hire female educators and provide them a safe, appropriate place to live. Like female students, these teachers should be provided with everything necessary to ensure a safe commute to school and back.

The time for action is now. The Pakistani government, the people and the international community must come together to formulate efficient measures for a more gender-sensitive, culturally viable system of education that caters to both girls and boys.

Malala’s aspiration is not to win the Nobel Peace Prize. It is to eradicate the gender bias in Pakistan, when it comes to education. It is up to Pakistanis to ensure that no girl ever pays a fee as high as Malala has had to — only to seek her right to education.

Rabia Alavi is a Dubai-based writer. You can follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RabiaAlavi