The World Bank experts have disclosed that the rural-urban divide is striking hard in the country as only 58 percent of school age boys and 46 percent of same age group girls were enrolled in primary school in 2001-02.
This gap worsened substantially for girls, who are 12 and above, said the report.
In a recently published report on "Bridging the gender gap: opportunities and challenges" by the World Bank's Environment and Social Development Sector Unit for South Asia Region, the report disclosed that the gender gap was largely a rural phenomenon.
In rural areas, girls were less likely to have ever enrolled in school and if they did enrol, they were much more likely to drop out, the report said, adding this left little room for inaction if the gender equity goals set out in the PRSP were to be met.
Girls education has been the subject of much-publicised debate and research in Pakistan, and a number of important demand and supply side factors, which affect schooling decisions have already been identified.
According to the report, these include demand side constraints such as family income, parental education, parental attitudes and differences in returns to schooling, as well as supply side constraints related to school availability and quality.
Recent policy initiatives had responded to these findings by introducing important new programmes such as stipend schemes and school meal programmes, the report said, and pointed out an additional constraint arising from restrictions on the mobility of girls and young women. It argued that if this constraint was not accounted for, it might to dampen the efficacy of the policy interventions.
Analytical results suggested that the practice of restricted female mobility played larger role in perpetuating gender gaps in school enrolments.
"School attendance for girls is very sensitive to school proximity. Girls are much less likely to attend school unless there is one available within the settlement they reside in.
"This sensitivity to school proximity worsens as girls grow into adolescence. Qualitative studies suggest that concerns over safety and norms of female seclusion are the primary factors behind the precipitous drop in enrolment beyond the age of 12. This concern is also evident in the rising expenditure on transportation to school reported for older girls," said the report.
"Improving schooling outcomes requires a comprehensive strategy that can address the demand and supply side constraints in Pakistan. First, given the poor distribution of schools, there is a clear need for new school construction to expand access to schools in areas that are currently unserved or undeserved.
"In addition, the conversion of public primary boys' schools to co-educational institutions is likely to be quite effective in immediately improving primary school access for girls in areas where no primary girls school exist," said the report.
The World Bank report identified two dimensions in which policy must address gender gaps to meet Pakistan's development goals.
-- First, because cultural constraints undermine women's access to education, health services, and prospects for earning income, policy requires near-term initiatives that work around these constraints, increasing female acquisition of basic services and opportunities.
Near-term initiatives include augmenting funding of government programmes, such as stipend programmes to increase girls' attendance that have been successful in increasing access on a small scale.
-- Modifying legislation to further empower women-by expanding their income earning-opportunities and their marital and legal rights.
Second, the policy must incorporate long-term measures to create an environment that enables the reduction of gender gaps, and by creating a public arena that is more welcoming to women.
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