IRC Calls Attention Towards Enhancing Girls' Access to Secondary Education.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) issued a statement urging for governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to collaborate to enhance girls' access to education across Pakistan while commemorating International Education Day 2022. The emphasis for a joint effort was to focus on provinces such as Balochistan where an extensive lag vis-a-vis education indicators was evident.

'Balochistan is host to the highest proportion of out of school children in the country. An estimated 1.07 million children are out of school of which 53% are girls,' shared Mr. Zain Ul Abedin, Acting Country Director, International Rescue Committee. He pointed to the alarmingly low enrollment rate at the post-primary levels while stressing the importance of enhancing girls' participation at all educational levels.

Numerous demand and supply-side barriers continue to limit girls' access to education, more specifically at the post-primary level of education. On the demand side, these include poverty, early marriages, and regressive social norms that frown upon girls' education. On the supply-side a lack of girls' secondary and higher secondary schools, missing facilities within schools, and a lack of female and subject specialist teachers are just some of the barriers that continue to limit girls' access to formal education.

A few important steps that could facilitate girls' retention in schools, transition to post-primary...