Challenges of Female Education in Rural Punjab' Voices of out of School Girls

Abstract

This research examined the issues of girls’ education in rural Punjab, it is based on the perspectives and life stories of out-of-school girls in regions where Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) partner schools are working. Although PEF has made a number of efforts to enhance the education of girls based on the public-private collaborations, a considerable number of girls is still out of school. This is showed by the fact that in Pakistan, about 13.4 million girls are out of school, about 5.24 million of them in Punjab alone which reflects the intention of undertaking the problem. A qualitative research design was used to conduct the study. The qualitative data was collected in the form of five focus group discussions with out of school girls using semi structured and probing questions to obtain in depth information of experiences of the out of school girls. The selection of participants was done through purposive sampling. The thematic analysis was used on the qualitative data through the NVivo software by transcribing and analyzing the data in order to determine the key patterns and emerging themes. The results showed that education of girls in rural Punjab is limited by inter-related economic, socio-cultural, institutional and personal factors such as poverty, domesticity, security issues and limited mobility. Despite these challenges, girls demonstrated a strong desire for education and view it as a pathway to empowerment and improved life opportunities. It is recommended that financial and transportation support be enhanced, income-generating opportunities be introduced, community awareness initiatives be strengthened, and school safety measures be improved to facilitate girls’ enrollment, retention, and completion of education.