Q1: Highlight the role and functions of Boards of Intermediate and

Secondary Education. How these boards are contributing towards

development of education?

Answer:

Board of Intermediate and secondary Education:

Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education are responsible to administer school and colleges
offering primary and secondary education in Pakistan. Every BISE also administer the exames for such
classes. Every province has boards in major districts.

Bise Punjab:
Punjab Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education administer all education boards in Punjab. Its
Head Office is situated in Lahore. The Board is responsible to maintain the same standard of evaluation
and transparency in examinations throughout Punjab.

Bise Multan
Bise Lahore
Bise sahiwal
Bise Bahawalpur
Bise Sargodha
Bise Faisalabad
Bise Sialkot
Bise Gujranwala
Bise D G Khan
Bise Federal

Bise Sindh:
Sindh Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education administers all education boards in Sindh.
Its Head Office is situated in Karachi. The Board is responsible to maintain the same
standard of evaluation and transparency in examinations as well as the uniform standards of
evaluations in the province.

BISE AGHA KHAN

BISE KARACHI

BISE SUKHAR
BISE HYDRABAD

BISE LARKANA

Bise in Baluchistan:
Balochistan the educational deprived region is developing rapidly by the work of their boards which
offer transparent and uniform methodologies for different regions.

BISE Quetta

Bise in KPK:
There is a great revolution in this province in education and there is a great need of more boards to
enhance the standards and working for the educations base.

BISE AJK

BISE PESHAWAR

BISE SAWAT

BISE MARDAN

BISE ABBOTABAD

BISE DERA ISMAIL KHAN

BISE KOHAT

BISE MALAKAND

Responsibility of BISEs
employment, and Public education is universally available. School curricula, funding, teaching,
other policies are set through locally by school boards in compliance with over all provincial and
federal policies. Every provincial government takes care of standards at Intermediate and
secondary education level in the region by help of BISE at district level. Hence; every board is
responsible to offer a transparent examination system and evaluation methodology. Each BISE in
any province is controlled by a single provincial Board of Education.
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Q2: What are problems related to curriculum development and
implementation in Pakistan? Give some suggestions for betterment of
the situation.

Answer:

Background:
The Government of Pakistan identified 4 medical Colleges for introduction of COME, one from each
province. Curriculum was prepared by the faculty of these colleges and launched in 2001 and despite
concerted efforts could not be implemented. The purpose of this research was to identify the reasons
for delay in implementation of the COME curriculum and to assess the understanding of the
stakeholders about COME.

Methods:
Mixed methods study design was used for data collection. In-depth interviews, mail-in survey
questionnaire, and focus group discussions were held with the representatives of federal and provincial
governments, Principals of medical colleges, faculty and students of the designated colleges. Rigor was
ensured through independent coding and triangulation of data.

Result:
The reasons for delay in implementation differed amongst the policy makers and faculty and included
thematic issues at the institutional, programmatic and curricular level. Majority (92% of the faculty) felt
that COME curriculum couldn’t be implemented without adequate infrastructure. The administrators
were willing to provide financial assistance, political support and better coordination and felt that COME
could improve the overall health system of the country whereas the faculty did not agree to it.

Problems and Issues in curriculum Development

 What is Education? • Tanner & Tanner (2007:121) offers the following definition, derived from Dewey’s
definition of education;• “That reconstruction of knowledge and experience that enables the learner to
grow in exercising intelligent control of subsequent knowledge and experience•• “Dewey viewed
education as a generative process –that is, a process through which the learner extend sand deepens
the capability of exercising intelligent control over changing conditions in life.

What is curriculum?• John Franklin Bobbitt said that curriculum, as an idea, has its roots in the Latin
word for race-course, explaining the curriculum as the course of deeds and experiences through which
children become the adults they should be, for success in adult society.

 Curriculum• Curriculum is the set of ideals followed by the institutions philosophical views. It speaks
about courses, and their content, which is generally offered, ate school or university (Pinal, Reynolds
et.al).
Problem", • the word "problem" is connected with the word "solution". A problem is something
negative that needs to be solved. Some bad things that happen cant be called "problems “because
they’re unsolvable.• . A problem is something that has a clear answer

Issue"• "Issue" is associated with difficult decisions and disagreements. A issues something that causes
debate and divides people.

 Problems and Issues• they are similar because both problems and issues cause debate, concern, and
conflict. Some issues can be broken into smaller problems that can be solved by asking questions that
can be answered easily. Problems typically can be solved by asking, how can something be solved. If it
can be answered then the problem is solved. If the problem cannot be answered easily and people are
divided over the problem then it becomes an issue.

 Curriculum development

Problems of planning an effective and integrated curriculum are not simple. A good curriculum involves
out of hard dedicated and intelligent work conducted on continuousbases.

 Curriculum development

A curriculum development is continuous work. It must have philosophical psychological, social and
economic basis. The curriculum planners have to investigate carefully and thoroughly the nature and
qualification of those for which curriculum into be planned.

Fundamental principle of curriculum planning is “student must either be selected to fit the planned
curriculum or curriculum must be planned to fit the level of the students enrolled”(Kelly jr.,1971p.115)

Curriculum development

Developing or revising a curriculum one is faced a number of problems and issues. The curriculum is
planned set of activities.

The process of curriculum is a web of moral and intellectual purposes and beliefs which ultimately
define the political economic and social arrangements of any society.

***********************

Q3: Comparatively analyze the characteristics, advantages and

limitations of internal and external systems of examination?

Answer:

INTRODUCTION
The process of educating and examining the growing human child is as old as man himself. Only its form
and method have changed from time to time, the primitive man was taught by example and tested
through confrontation with the actual life situations. In the early civilized societies formal instruction
was limited to a gifted and selected few: The sage, the philosopher and the religious preceptor taught
and tested orally by questioning the disciple.

For purposes of appraisal usually two terms are used, namely; examination and evaluation. The term
examination aims at ensuring that the matter learnt is adequately fixed and properly recalled. This is a
narrow significance and usually relates to class room situations in which emphasis is laid on the learning
of a few facts and skills. But the term evaluation has a wider connotation. It relates to finding out the
mental, moral and social changes that have come about in the personality pattern of a student and are
directly affecting his behavior. Evaluation has a direct reference to the goals of education and therefore,
must take into consideration broader implications which have

Concept of Examination

Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or fruits (of you
toil). But give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere (Al-Quran.ii:155).

Is a measuring instrument intended to verify both a candidates’ value and value of teaching he has
received. It is an indicator of the training given and received. It is to measure what has been
accomplished during the period of study to weigh each candidate’s sum of knowledge and appraise his
ability. It looks like target, incentive, motive or stimulant. “It provides motives for the teacher and a spur
for the pupils. Examination conditions and orientates the entire teaching process” (UNESCO 1961) The
aim of our examination system is to judge the achievement of students in different areas such as
personality development, creative thinking, and love for Islamic values examinations are the only tools
for measuring these aspects. Examinations are frequently employed in order to keep the students
constantly stimulated to high level of achievement. Examination system may be internal or external. The
success of which depends on the reliability and the validity of the system.

Examination Page and Thomas (1978) explain the concept of examination as “(1) Assessment of ability,
achievement or present performance in a subject (2) instrument of assessment can be log essay or
mixed form of assessment may be used for qualifying for entrance to professions and higher education.”

VIEWS OF NATIONAL EXPERTS ABOUT EXAMINATION Examination system has been one of the burning
issues with the large number of Committees, Commissions and Conferences. The recommendations of
these were reviewed under the following headings to suggest ways and means to improve the system of
examination.

 Schedule of Examination All Boards, by regulation should fix the dates of their respective examination
and announce them soon after the commencement of the new academic year. In the case of natural
calamities and other extraordinary circumstances, special examination be held for them in prevented
from taking regular examination (Govt. of Pakistan, 1966, 1978). The grouping of subject in the date
sheets should be so revised as to reduce the number of examination days (Govt. of Pakistan, 1973).

Conduct of Examination Supervisory staff should be carefully selected in consultation with or on the
recommendation of the employing agencies (Govt. of West Pakistan, 1969. Govt. of Pakistan, 1973) Only
these centers, where necessary facilities are provided should be approved the Board for holding
examination (Govt. of West Pakistan, 1969, Govt. of Pakistan, 1971). Heads of institutions where
examination centers are located should be the principal supervisors of the centers. They may be allowed
recruit invigilation staff from amongst trusted teachers and should be solely responsible for proper
conduct of examination (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971, 1978). To ensure effective invigilation, the number of
invigilators should be increased to maintain a ratio of 1:20 (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971).

Conduct of Examination agencies should compensate the supervisory staff for any damages they might
suffer in performing their examination duties. In view of the personal danger to invigilators in the honest
discharge of their function, the Board should consider framing rules, which would enable them to take
action on the basis of confidential reports from invigilators (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971). Action should be
prescribed against persons who create disturbance in or outside the examination hall (Govt. of Pakistan,
1971). Instead of paying D.A. to the supervisory staff, the rate of their remuneration be increased by
50% and they should be paid only T.A (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971).

Conduct of Examination should be held during holidays from the 2nd week of March to 2nd week of
April every year (Govt. of Pakistan, 1978). Cases of unfair means should be dealt with seriously. If any
teacher is found to be assisting in the use of unfair means, he should be proceeded against for removal
from services and declared unqualified to act as a teacher in any institution (Govt. of West Pakistan,
1969) The conduct of examination at centers where conditions for holding examinations are not
conducive may be entrusted to a senior administrative officer who should be given adequate authority
and power to deal with the situation properly (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971, 1988).

Internal Examination / External Examination to make the completion of the main secondary school
courses, examination should be conducted by teachers themselves who know the pupils and conditions
of work Certificates should be issued under the authority of the school. These schools should give a full
and comprehensive picture of pupils’ achievements in various phases of school life (Govt. of Pakistan,
1959). The system of examination should be reorganized and the award of certificates be bases on the
performance of the students in the public examination conducted by the Universities/ Board of
Secondary Education (seventy five percent of the total marks) and school records, including the results
of periodic test and also appraisal of his habits and general behavior (twenty five percent) (Govt. of
Pakistan,

Internal Examination / External Examination the teacher on the notice board as well as in the pupils,
progress report, should record result of periodic tests in the school (Govt. of Pakistan, 1959). The
importance of public examination at the secondary stage should reduce. But to abolish these
examinations at the secondary stage of our educational history will not serve the purpose (Govt. of West
Pakistan, 1969). Boards’ of secondary education may consider the desirability of permitting some
selected school to hold their own examination and these be recognized of corticated issued by the
Boards (Govt. of Pakistan, 1971).

Disadvantages of Internal Assessment the teachers within the school may give hints to students about
internal assessment so it is not learners are not challenged by the internal assessments. Learners need
to be challenged by the assessments.... but as for external assessments students are expected to know
everything because there is no hint. It requires students to compete.
 *****************************

Q4: Highlight the importance of linkage between education and world of

work. How our present education system is linked with the demands of
global job market and what can be done to improve the situation?

Answer:

Introduction:
There are many reasons why education is important, this report focuses on its contribution to economic
growth and outcomes. Education ‘can be defined as the stock of skills, competencies,

and other productivity-enhancing characteristics’ (WEF 2016). In general, education—as a critical

component of a country’s human capital—increases the efficiency of each individual worker and helps
economies to move up the value chain beyond manual tasks or simple production processes (WEF
2016). Human capital has long been considered the most distinctive feature of the economic system and
further work has proven the impact of education on productivity growth empirically.The World
Economic Forum 2016 suggested three channels through which education affects a

country’s productivity. First, it increases the collective ability of the workforce to carry out existing tasks
more quickly. Second, secondary and tertiary education especially facilitate the transfer of knowledge
about new information, products, and technologies created by others (Barro and Lee 2010). Finally, by
increasing creativity it boosts a country’s own capacity to create new knowledge, products, and
technologies.

There is a wealth of literature on this topic, showing the long held expectation that human capital
formation (a population’s education and health status) plays a significant role in a country’s economic
development. Better education leads not only to higher individual income but is also a necessary
(although not always sufficient) precondition for long-term economic growth (IIASA 2008). Woessmann
2015 surveys the most recent empirical evidence stating that it shows the crucial role of education for
individual and societal prosperity.

Education is a leading determinant of economic growth, employment, and earnings. Ignoring the
economic dimension of education would endanger the prosperity of future generations, with
widespread repercussions for poverty, social exclusion, and sustainability of social security systems
(Woessman 2015). For every US$1 spent on education, as much as US$10 to US$15 can be generated in
economic growth (UNESCO 2012). If 75% more 15-year-olds in forty-six of

the world’s poorest countries were to reach the lowest OECD benchmark for mathematics, economic
growth could improve by 2.1% from its baseline and 104 million people could be lifted out of extreme
poverty (UNESCO 2012).

What level of education is needed for economic growth?

Investment in secondary education provides a clear boost to economic development, much more than
can be achieved by universal primary education alone. Hence, the focus of the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals on universal primary education was important but insufficient. Universal
primary education must be complemented with the goal of ensuring broad sections of the population
have at least completed junior secondary education (IIASA 2008). The

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also have education targets including that ‘by 2030, ensure that
all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to
relevant and effective learning outcomes’. This shows more of an awareness of the importance of
secondary education.

Only broad based secondary education and universal primary education is likely to give poor countries
the human capital boost necessary to bring large segments of the population out of poverty. For more
industrialised countries, tertiary education of younger adults also plays a key role in economic growth
(IIASA 2008).

What level of education is needed for economic growth?

Investment in secondary education provides a clear boost to economic development, much more than
can be achieved by universal primary education alone. Hence, the focus of the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals on universal primary education was important but insufficient. Universal
primary education must be complemented with the goal of ensuring broad sections of the population
have at least completed junior secondary education (IIASA 2008). The

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also have education targets including that ‘by 2030, ensure that
all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to
relevant and effective learning outcomes’. This shows more of an awareness of the importance of
secondary education.

Only broad based secondary education and universal primary education is likely to give poor countries
the human capital boost necessary to bring large segments of the population out of poverty. For more
industrialised countries, tertiary education of younger adults also plays a key role in economic growth
(IIASA 2008).Policy implication For international policymakers, more and better education should
become the top priority because it empowers the people to help themselves and thus helps to improve
governance and to reduce corruption. A concerted effort for much more primary and secondary
education

combining national and international forces would appear to be the most promising route out of
poverty and toward sustainable development (IIASA 2008). Policy-makers interested in advancing future
prosperity should particularly focus on educational outcomes, rather than inputs or attainment
(Woessmann 2015).

Other considerations

Education concerns not only the quantity of schooling—the percentage of the population that
completed primary, secondary, or tertiary education—but also, critically, its quality. Hanushek and
Kimko (2000), for example, find that it is not merely years of schooling but the quality of schooling
(which may be reflected in international examinations) that has a significant relationship with economic
growth. Pavlova noted in her email communication that when The World Economic Forum measures
secondary and tertiary enrolment rates, their measurement also includes training and the quality of
education as evaluated by business leaders and the extent of staff training (WEF 2016).

The SDGs note that there has been major progress in education access, specifically at the primary school
level, for both boys and girls. However, access does not always mean quality of education, or completion
of primary school. Currently, 103 million youth worldwide still lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60
per cent of them are women. Hanushek et al (2010) review the role of education in promoting economic
growth, with a particular focus on the role of educational quality. It concludes that there is strong
evidence that the cognitive skills of the population – rather than mere school attainment – are
powerfully

related to long-run economic growth. The relationship between skills and growth proves extremely
robust in empirical applications. The effect of skills is complementary to the quality of economic
institutions. Growth simulations reveal that the long-run rewards to educational quality are large but
also require patience.

The focus on human capital as a driver of economic growth for developing countries has led to undue
attention on school attainment. Developing countries have made considerable progress in closing the
gap with developed countries in terms of school attainment, but research has underscored the
importance of cognitive skills for economic growth. This result shifts attention to issues of school quality,
where developing countries have been much less successful in closing

the gaps with developed countries. Without improving school quality, developing countries will find it
difficult to improve their long run economic performance (Hanushek et al 2010).

Spending on education is becoming more of a priority worldwide. The graph below shows that a
majority of countries have increased education spending as a share of national income since 1999.

Beyond economic growth

Additionally, health and survival rates, fertility levels and even the quality of a country’s governance and
institutions can plausibly be assumed to be linked to a country’s levels of educational attainment (IIASA
2008). While completion of a basic education is associated with higher quality health indicators,
progress on the other MDGs were influenced even more by the completion of a secondary education,
and especially by women, for example in sub‐Saharan Africa, an estimated 1.8 million children’s lives
could have been saved in 2008 if their mothers had at least secondary education – a 41% reduction
(UNESCO 2011). Women with a secondary education seek out antenatal care and better medical
treatment in general, take more measures to improve their children’s health, delay marriage and have
fewer children (thus reducing maternal mortality), are more likely to send their children to school, and
have greater economic

opportunities that will alleviate poverty and hunger (UNESCO 2010).

A note on the evidence baseThere is a large evidence base on this topic. However, understanding how
education influences a person’s future is not straightforward. For several decades, economists have
measured the effects of skills on work opportunities mainly by looking at the difference in earnings
between
people with different levels of education. These studies originally analysed the apparently simple
relationship between wages, years of schooling and years of experience, controlling for basic
demographic characteristics such as gender and age, to estimate the rate of return to education – the
percentage increase in wages for each year of school (UNESCO 2012). The most recent compilation of
studies from around the world suggests that not only are returns to education high in general, but the
return to post-primary education is higher than for primary schooling (Colclough et al., 2010). Yet there
are wide variations in these patterns among countries. One reason for the mixed evidence is that the
number of years of education is an imperfect measure of what young people learn. Simply completing
primary and lower secondary education does not necessarily mean obtaining foundation skills. Also
acquiring basic literacy and numeracy alone is

not enough to get good jobs (UNESCO 2012).

. Primary education

A considerable amount of evidence on the positive economic effects of a completed primary education,
especially for those working in agriculture, has been generated over the past 40 years (UNESCO 2010). A
study which modelled the impact of attainment in fifty countries between 1960 and 2000 found that an
additional year of schooling can increase a person’s earnings by 10% and average GDP by 0.37% annually
(Hanushek et al., 2008). A different cross-country

study claimed that each additional year of education increases income by 10% (Psacharopoulos and
Patrinos, 2004). Generally, economic rates of return to individuals’ and societies’ investment in primary
education have been reported to be higher in low income countries than in high income countries and
to be higher for primary education than for secondary or tertiary education

(UNESCO 2010). The Commission on Growth and Development (2008) concluded that social returns
probably exceed private returns through the broader contribution to society of educated individuals.

An influential early study which analysed the effects of primary education on agricultural production in
13 countries found that the average annual gain in production associated with four years of schooling
was 8.7% (Lockheed, Jamison and Lau, 1980). A more recent paper by de Muro and Burchi (2007)
examined the relationship between primary education and food insecurity across 48 countries. The
results showed that doubling the attendance rates in primary education for rural populations would
reduce levels of food insecurity by between 20% and 24%. Some papers which measured the effect on
income of the quality of education showed that these are higher than previously understood (Hanushek
and Wossman, 2007).

The incidence of poverty across households is closely linked to educational attainment (UNESCO 2010).
For example, a study found that in Papua New Guinea, people living in

households headed by a person with no formal education constitute more than 50% of the poor while in
the Republic of Serbia, the poverty level of households where the head has no schooling is three times
higher than the national average (UNDP 2010a).

Basic education also impacts on poverty reduction and hunger. The feeding and body weight monitoring
provided in many early childhood programmes can directly alleviate malnutrition while research based
on the International Adult Literacy Survey has shown that adult literacy programmes can raise earnings
potential at a similar rate as additional years of schooling (UNESCO 2010). The case of China has shown
during the past twenty years that combating

illiteracy aggressively is possible and can provide governments with the incentive for moving their
citizens towards economic sectors with higher productivity (UNESCO 2010).

Social change and long-term prospects for economic growth rely considerably on the expansion of
quality learning opportunities for all. Greater equity in both education enrolment and school quality
across all population groups will result in a more equal income distribution and reduce socioeconomic
inequalities in general (UNESCO 2010).

171 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all students in low‐income countries left school with
basic reading skills – that is equivalent to a 12% drop in the number of people living on less than $1.25 a
day (UNESCO 2011).

The expansion of basic education leads to improvements in the other areas across the population in
general. This is even more the case for socially and economically marginalised groups who have the
most to gain from basic education (UNESCO 2010).

3. Secondary education

Investment in secondary education provides a clear boost to economic development, much more than
can be achieved by universal primary education alone. Hence, the focus of the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals on universal primary education was important but insufficient. Universal
primary education must be complemented with the goal of giving broad segments of the population at
least a completed junior secondary education (IIASA 2008). This

IIASA study claims that data deficiencies are responsible for previous research study findings

which show that changes in educational attainment are largely unrelated to economic growth.

IIASA researchers completed a full reconstruction of the education attainment distribution by age and
sex for 120 countries for the years 1970–2000. The advantages of this dataset compared to others arise
from its detail (four educational categories for five-year age groups of men and women), its
consideration of differential mortality, and its strict consistency of the definition of educational
categories over time. This level of detail allows researchers to perform more detailed statistical analyses
of the relation between education and economic growth than had previously been possible (Lutz et al
2007).

Pavlova also cited the following evidence in her email communication when contacted for this report.
Although official numbers are not available, indirect data shows a correlation between the enrolment
rate in primary and secondary education and position of the country in the International Competitive
Index (WEF 2016). For example, Laos is ranked 93rd, Cambodia 95 th and Myanmar 125th (WEF 2016) in
terms of the International Competitive Index; and enrolment

rates in secondary education are especially low in these countries (ASEAN Secretariat 2015).

Additionally, the figure below shows a correlation between economic growth and secondary enrolment
levels when comparing five countries (UNESCO 2012)
 ******************************

Q5: Highlight the significance of female education in a society and

elaborate the situation of female education in Pakistan with the help of
latest available data?

Answer:

Female education in society:

The word Education means “the process of imparting knowledge, skills and judgment between right and
wrong”.  In this age, education is one important tool to differentiate amongst human beings and
animals. It doesn’t only teach us the skills, imparting knowledge but also addresses that how we can live
in society which is diverse. Education is important for both men and women. But Women Education!
This word might give a sense of education to women but it actually means “Education to a Nation ‘’, as it
is commonly said: Educating a woman is like educating the entire family.

According to the A-37, constitution of the Pakistan women’s education is the fundamental right of every
female citizen, but gender discrepancies still exist in the educational sectors. Education plays very
important role in our lives but women education is more prior as being important tool of achieving good
self-respect. There are still some deprived areas where women are meant to live a domestic life only,
they are not allowed to get education has become the culture of some of the societies. In few of the
areas, women are allowed to get education but they have limited options to choose and pursue their
professional career. They don’t know that other professional careers do exist for a female beyond the
medical career and we lack the quota of female seats for various jobs. People who don’t know the worth
of educating a woman do suffer a lot. These days education is more likely to have degrees but it includes
your ethics, norms, culture, and behavior too.

A woman is strong until she doesn’t want to be a weak. She can make each and everything come about
as planned and improvise it accordingly. Education enhances a woman’s (and her partner and the
family’s) level of health as it enhances her level of awareness regarding a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore,
women are bound to live a domestic life only, they are not allowed to get education as it has become
the culture of some of the societies, as well as an increased likelihood to remain single, have no children,
or have no formal marriage and alternatively, have increasing levels of long-term partnerships. A woman
has a lot of things to manage but only if she is educated she will be managing them in a proper way,
giving her child (infant) pre- learning which includes how to speak out the words like Mu Ma (Muma), Ba
Ba (Baba). This is how she grooms her child and helps them by putting in proper way towards learning or
getting education. Education can help a woman to participate in political and social sciences to raise
their voices against the rights which have been stolen by others.

There are economic benefits of women education as, Pakistan can achieve social and human
development, and gender equality. A large number of empirical studies have revealed that increase in
women’s education boosts their wages and that returns to education for women are frequently larger
than that of men. Increase in the level of female education improves human development outcomes
such as child survival, health and schooling. Lower female education has a negative impact on economic
growth as it lowers the average level of human capital. Developmental Economists argue that in
developing countries female education reduces fertility, infant mortality and increases children’s
education. Gender inequality in education directly and significantly affects economic growth. “Education
is proven as an educational weapon for our next generations.’’

Female Education in Pakistan:

Abstract Education has been of central significance to the development of human society. The
international community’s commitment to universal education was first set down in the 1984 Universal
Declaration of Human rights. In Pakistan, particularly in rural and sub-urban areas, women are situated
largely at the bottom end of the educational system in comparison to their male counterparts.
Traditionally, it is assumed that women are limited to their homes and men are the breadwinners of the
family. In this situation, education can play a vital role in enhancing the status of women and placing
them on an equal footing with their male counterparts and it also increases women’s ability to secure
employment in the formal sector. The purpose of this study was to understand the importance of
education for women in Pakistani society and examine the barriers and obstacles to higher education for
women in Pakistan. The sample comprised of ten women from local female university; a vice chancellor,
four deans, one head of department each randomly selected from faculties of Natural Sciences,
Engineering and Technology, Humanities, Islamic and Oriental Learning and two from Social Sciences (as
this faculty comprised 17 departments, much larger than the other three). A case study approach was
used and data were collected through semi-structured interview schedule. Participants accepted that
there is no doubt that in country like Pakistan women’s have to face socio-cultural hurdles to acquire
education. It is war against these hidden fences but Pakistani women’s are struggling hard to get their
rights. Participants identified poverty, dowry, social norms and early marriages as barriers. For most of
the participants, societal attitudes towards female higher education are mixed; some people are in
favour of female education which is depicted in a participant’s personal experience. This study also
revealed that education can bring phenomenal change in women’s life by enhancing their confidence,
raising their status in the family and society .

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