The school attendance rate of children from poor households is too low to achieve Millennium Development Goals, especially for females, as only one-third of girls from poor families are enrolled in schools. Attendance is higher and the gender gap smaller in urban areas compared to rural ones, and Punjab showed a relatively better result than Balochistan and Sindh.
A report titled `Situation Analysis of Children and Women in Pakistan’ released by the Planning Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund, revealed that three major challenges contribute to gender inequality: equity, access and quality. It stated that the number of female teachers in primary schools was low and there was a drop in number with an increase in age and experience.
It added that devastating floods had also lowered Pakistan’s position in the Human Development Index. In Balochistan, 8 districts had been affected by floods including Jafarabad, Sibi, Kohlu, Jhal, Magsi, Barkhan, Loralai, Kech and Naseerabad, however schools in Jafarabad had been damaged more than others. Other districts seemed to have fewer damaged schools but the situation of affected areas was critical compared to other districts. The initial report of 8 flood affected districts showed that 1,278 schools (899 boys and 379 girls) had been partially or completely damaged.
In FATA, about six percent (64 out of 992) schools and other educational facilities had been damaged. Of these, 29 had been completely damaged and 35 were partially damaged. Around 900 girls’ schools had been affected during the last few years due to militancy.