Policy Dialogue on Gender Disparity in Enrollment and Learning Levels Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

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Policy Dialogue onGender Disparity in Enrollment
and Learning Levels Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

• Peshawar
• Monday, April 23, 2012

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ASER PAKISTAN 2010-2015

• ASER - The Annual Status of Education Report
  (ASER) is a citizen led large scale national
  household survey about the quality of education
  in rural and some urban areas of Pakistan.
• Inspired by the ASER India East Africa UWEZO
  methodology it seeks to fill a gap on learning
  outcomes by providing a reliable set of data at
  the national level on an annual basis, that is
  comprehensive and easy to understand. The
  surveys objectives are three fold
• To get reliable estimates of the status of
  childrens schooling and basic learning (reading
  and arithmetic level)     
• To measure the change in these basic learning and
  school statistics from last year
• To interpret these results and use them to affect
  policy decisions at various levels.

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Scale Scope of Survey

• Coverage In all five provinces i.e. Sindh,
  Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit
  Baltistan, and FATA AJK.- Rural
• Phase I Year I 2010 32 districts across
  Pakistan
• Phase II Year II 2011 85 districts across
  Pakistan (84 Rural 3 Urban /2 overlap with
  rural districts)
• Phase III Years III, IV , V all districts
  across Pakistan
• Sample 600 households per district. Two-stage
  stratified sample
•   30 villages per districts (PPS sampling from
  1998 Census Data)
• 20 households per village (quadrants) 5 from
  each
• Nuances between public and private schools. In
  each village profile 1 govt. and 1 private
  school-
• Gender disaggregated data

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• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• 4 districts in 2010
• 14 districts in 2011
• Peshawar Urban was also surveyed for the first
  time
• Children (Age 3-16)-24,039 children (60 male,
  40 female)
• Households-8,274

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Global Context- International Commitments

• At the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar
  (Senegal), the International Community reaffirmed
  its commitment to achieving Education for All
  (EFA). Participating countries including
  Pakistan adopted the Dakar Framework for Action
  and identified six specific goals to be Achieved,
  one of which was to Achieve Gender Parity by 2005
  and Gender Equality by 2015.
• Pakistan is a signatory to the Dakar Framework
  for Action 2000.

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Current Scenario in Education

• Although considerable gains have been made with
  regards to improving the gender equality in
  improving Access, however, still the goal of
  Gender Parity remains elusive.
• Net Enrolment Rate (NER) for girls has increased
  from 45.8 in 2001 to about 54 in 2009
  according to the Pakistan Social and Living
  Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM2011). The NER
  for boys has increased from 61 in 2001 to 67.5
  in 2009.
• The gender gap as indicated in the NER though
  decreasing is still persistent

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18th Amendment Right to Education

• Article 25A under the 18th Amendment to the
  Constitution in 2010 states
• The State shall provide free and compulsory
  education to all children of the age of five to
  sixteen years in such manner as may be determined
  by law
• After the 18th Amendment, education has been
  devolved completely to the Provinces.
• Each provincial Government is now duty-bound to
  provide all the children ALL girls and boys aged
  5-16 free and compulsory education.
•  

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Gender Gaps in Education-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in this regards poses a very
  interesting case.
• KP currently has large gender gaps as compared to
  other provinces in
• Enrollment for pre school and primary/secondary
  levels
• Learning Levels
• Out of School Children
• Recently, female education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  has received extra-ordinary attention, due to the
  sad persistent trend of blowing up of Female
  schools, across several Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  districts and FATA.

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EVIDENCE FROM PSLM MICS

• According to the PSLM data
• According to Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey
  (MICS) 2008, Net Enrolment Rate (NER) at Primary
  Level for Children Aged 5-9 stood at 56 for
  Males as compared to 41 for Females.

Net Enrollment Rates in KP 2011 Net Enrollment Rates in KP 2011 Net Enrollment Rates in KP 2011 Net Enrollment Rates in KP 2011 Net Enrollment Rates in KP 2011 Net Enrollment Rates in KP 2011
Primary Primary Middle Middle Matriculation Matriculation
Male Female Male Female Male Female
56 43 19 14 69 32
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Pre school and tuition

• Pre School Evidence 3-5 Years
• Amongst the children who attend pre schools
• 64 are boys
• 36 are girls
• Private Supplementary Tuition
• Amongst the children who attend tuition
• 65 are boys
• 34 are girls

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Gender Gap Evidence from ASER 2011

• Girls are far less likely than Boys to be
  enrolled in private schools.
• Significant gender gaps exist in Khyber
  Pakhtunkhwa, i.e. the difference in percentage
  boys and girls enrolled in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• It is the highest in Private School in all the
  provinces, except for Balochistan and FATA.
• The Gender Gap is slightly smaller in government
  schools. However, it is still greater than all
  the provinces except Balochistan, FATA and
  Gilgit-Baltistan.
• This may point to the fact that parents are less
  likely to spend their money on girls for
  education in private schools, and more likely to
  send them, if at all, in Government Schools.

Note Gender gap is the difference in males
enrolled say in government schools minus girls
enrolled in government schools in a given
province/region etc.
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Gender Gap Peshawar (Urban)

• Similarly, in the Urban Context, among the three
  urban areas covered (Lahore, Karachi and
  Peshawar), Peshawar has the largest Gender Gap in
  both Government as well as Private Schools.

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Gender Gap Out-of-School Children

• At All Age-Groups more Girls than Boys
  continue to be Out-of-School in Khyber
  Pakhtunkhwa
• The largest Gender Gap exists in Age-Group
  6-10.
• The Gender Gap is reduced but continues to
  exist till the Age Group (14-16).

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Evidence from PSLM

• PSLM Data also corroborates the Gender Gap in
  Out-of-School Children.
• PSLM 2010-11 found that for Rural Khyber
  Pakhtunkhwa, 69 of Males had ever attended
  school compared to 31 Females.

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The Importance of Gauging Quality of Education
Learning Levels

• The number of years spent in school is only one
  measure of educational outcomes.
• There is a citizen led movement that emphasizes
  the importance of the quality of schooling or
  actual learning rather than merely years of
  schooling attained.

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Gender Gaps in Learning Levels-Reading

• Girls underperform dramatically in reading when
  compared to boys in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Girls
  performance is consistently poor compared to boys
  in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• The gap in performance is as high as 10
  percentage points in English, while similarly it
  is about 11 Percentage Points in Urdu Learning
  Levels.
• This means that Girls constantly under-perform in
  Reading as compared to Boys, in both in English,
  as well as Urdu.
• Girls in Urban Peshawar are especially
  disadvantaged in terms of reading levels The
  Gender Gap in Peshawar is considerably high when
  compared to Lahore Karachi

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Gender Gaps in Learning Levels-Arithmetic

• Girls also under-perform in Mathematics
  achievement compared to Boys What is striking
  is the fact that the gender gaps in mathematics
  are almost identical compared to reading levels
  (10 percentage points) .
• The Gender Gaps are higher in Peshawar Urban (15
  Percentage Points) which is greater than Lahore
  Urban (0 Percentage Points) and Karachi (-3
  Percentage Point).

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continues to pose larger
Gender Gaps than Punjab, Sindh, AJK, and is at
parity with Gilgit-Baltistan. In the
inter-provincial context, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
clearly lags behind
Gender gaps in Learning Achievement Urdu
Gender Gap in Reading Levels ( of Males who can
at least read a sentence - of females who can
at least read a sentence), ages 6-16
Gender gaps in Learning Achievement - Arithmetic
Gender Gap in Mathematics Levels ( of Males who
can at least subtract - of females who can at
least subtract), ages 6-16
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An Inter-District Comparison of Gender Gaps in
Out-of-School Children with Literacy Ranking
According to PSLM.
District Gender Gap for Out-of-School Children Literacy Rank (According to PSLM)
Haripur 0.2 1
Abbotabad -0.2 2
Mansehra 2.4 4
Peshawar (Rural) 2.1 6
Swat 0.4 7
Karak 3.7 10
Swabi 1.6 11
Bannu 1 12
Mardan 4.7 14
Batagram 4.3 15
Charsadda 3.4 16
Upper Dir 6 19
Tank 1.7 20
Dera Ismail Khan 1 22
Gender Gap in Out-of-School Children ( of
Females who are out-of-school - of Males who
are Out-of-School)
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Inter-District Comparison of Gender Gaps for
Out-of-School Children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa show
great Disparities.

• The Gender Gap for Out-of-School Children is
  highest in Upper Dir, the District which has the
  Third Lowest Literacy in Khyber Pakhutnkhwa
  according to the Literacy Ranking of PSLM.
• Similarly, Haripur and Abbotabad with the Highest
  Literacy (1 and 2 Literacy Ranks respectively)
  also boasts the Lowest Gender Gap for Out-of
  -School Children.
• This goes on to show that District-wise there
  continue to exist disparities in terms of Females
  access to Education.

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Does Increase in Literacy Rate Always Translate
to Reduced Gender Gap?

• In certain cases, overall high Literacy does not
  translate automatically to a reduced Gender Gap
  in the District.
• For instance, D.I.Khan the District with one of
  the lowest Gender Gaps for Out-of-School Children
  (1 Percentage Point) has Lowest Literacy
  (22)Rank.
• Similarly, Mardan a District with a very High
  Gender Gap for Out-of-School Children (4.3
  Percentage Points), has a higher Literacy than
  Districts with comparatively lower Gender Gaps
  like Charsadda, Tank and Batagram.

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Policy Recommendations

• Immediate Steps are needed to improve Female
  Enrolment Rates.
• Improve Cultural Sensitization of the Community
  to Female Education.
• Improve School Facilities ensuring safety
• Take Measures to improve Inter-District Gender
  Gaps.
• Increase in Literacy Rate does not necessarily
  lead to decrease in Gender gaps.
• Implement policies/programs backed by resources
  to improve girls (and Boys) Learning Outcomes

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And Most Importantly .

• Legislation on Right to Education- The Provincial
  Assembly needs to take necessary steps to
  legislate on the Right to Education, Article 25 A
  with consultation ensuring that g Gender-specific
  clauses are present sufficiently the Government
  /state is bound to address the Gender Gaps for
  access, quality and equity in the minimum time
  period.

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For more information visit www.aserpakistan.org
Email safedafed_at_gmail.com