Factors Contributing to Gender Disparity in Education in Rural Areas: Evidence from Three Districts of Punjab, Pakistan

Authors

  • Muhammad Luqman Agricultural Information Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
  • Babar Shahbaz Institute of Agriculture Extension & Rural Development, University of Agriculture in Faisalabad, Pakistan.
  • Xu Shiewi Agricultural Information Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
  • Yu Wen Agricultural Information Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59926/jodprp.vol01/01

Keywords:

gender parity, education, human development, socio-economic factors

Abstract

Education is an important human capital; and, it is the fundamental right of every human being irrespective of gender to acquire knowledge through education. Social scientists have highlighted the significance of female education without which socio-economic growth, especially in Asia, remains slow. However, gender disparity in education persists in rural peripherals of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Iran, Nepal and Bangladesh (UNESCO 2015). This deplorable situation is subject to multiple socio-economic and cultural barriers. In order to unveil these militating attributes, present investigation was conducted in three districts of the Punjab province in Pakistan from March to June 2016. The province is divided into three different zones: Northern, Central and Southern. From each zone, one district was purposively selected as the study area. From the selected districts (Sargodha, Khushab and Bhakhar), 100 rural households from each district were selected through multi-stage simple random sampling technique. The data were collected from 300 household heads and from their spouses through in-depth individual interviews to find out the difference in opinion of the male and female respondents. The collected data was analysed using SPSS. Paired t-test was used to find out the difference in responses of male and female respondents. In order to find out the difference in intensity of factors in the three districts, F-test was applied. Results showed that there is highly significant difference between age of male family heads and their spouses (wives) (χ2=50.121 and P<0.05). Similar trend was found in educational status of male heads and their spouses. Cross tabulation indicated that educational status of wives was low as compared to their husbands. Analysis showed that a number of socio-economic factors are responsible for the existing gender disparity with reference to education in the study areas. Respondents identified low income, high educational expenditures, low educational level of parents (especially the mother), and security concerns of parents regarding sexual harassment as the major factors impeding female education. Results of the F-test showed that there exists difference in intensity of factors in the three study districts of Punjab which contribute towards gender disparity in education. Highest intensity (x =2.74/3.00) was found in district Bhakhar as it is a remote district of Punjab with higher poverty rate, followed by district Khushab and Sargodha. It is recommended that the Government at the national level should take serious steps in creating conducive environment to enhance female enrolment rate in rural localities.

The scope of this article is related to the following SDG / SDGs.

 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Muhammad Luqman, Agricultural Information Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China

 

 

Babar Shahbaz, Institute of Agriculture Extension & Rural Development, University of Agriculture in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

 

 

Xu Shiewi , Agricultural Information Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.

 

 

 

Yu Wen, Agricultural Information Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.

 

 

References

Aref, A., 2011, ‘Perceived Impact of Education on Poverty Reduction in Rural Areas of Iran’, Life Science Journal, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 498-501.

Arnot, M. 2010, ‘Promoting Substantive Gender Equality in Education: Youth Citizenship’ Policy Brief No. 17, University of Cambridge, England.

Ashraf, E., Afzal, M.Y., and Shurgeel, H.K. 2015, ‘A review of rural women education in Pakistan’, Science International, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 555-559.

Aslam, M. 2005, ‘Gender and Household Education Expenditure in Pakistan. 20th annual general meeting and conference’, Pakistan Society of Development Economics, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Afzal, M., Butt, A.R., Akbar, R.A., and Roshi, S. 2013, ‘Gender disparity in Pakistan: a case of middle and secondary education in Punjab’, Journal of Research and Reflections in Education, vol. 7, no. 2, pp.113 -124.

Barriteau, V. E. 2000, ‘Feminist Theory and Development: Implications for Policy, Research’, and Action, in Barriteau, V.E. Parpart, J.L., and Connelly, M.P. (eds.), Theoretical Perspectives on Gender and Development, International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

DFID 2000, ‘Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets’, Department for International

Development, United Kingdom.

Frear, D. 2007, ‘Rural Female Entrepreneurs: A Demographic Survey in Rural Pennsylvania’, Journal of Business and Public Affairs, vol. 1, no. 2, pp.12-21.

Gomes, C. A., and Câmara, J.2004, ‘Training for rural development in Brazil: SENAR’, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & International Institute for Educational Planning, Rome and Paris.

GoP 2015, ‘Statistical Year Book 2014-15’, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs, Revenue, Statistics and Privatization, Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan.

GoP 2016, ‘Economic Survey of Pakistan 2016-17’, Economic Advisors’ Wing, Government of Pakistan.

Government of Punjab, 2015, ‘Punjab Development Statistics’, Government of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.

IFAD 2011, ‘Women and rural development’, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome, Italy, <https://www.ifad.org/>, accessed 21Jan. 2014.

Khan, H., Ali, A., Khan, R. and Zia, Y.A. 2013, ‘Social constraints to female higher education in Pakhtoon society’, European journal of Business and Social Sciences, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 25-31.

Luqman, M., Shahbaz, B., Ali, T. and Siddiqui, M.T. 2015, ‘Gender disparity in education: Agricultural & Rural Development dilemma in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan’, International Journal of Agriculture & Applied Sciences, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 72-77.

Maqsood, F., Maqsood, S. and Raza, H. 2012, ‘Getting higher education: is it really a challenge for females in Pakistan’, Academic Research International, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 352-360.

Naeem, M.R. 2005, ‘Self-perceived role of rural youth in agricultural and rural development in district Faisalabad’, M.Sc. (Hons.) thesis, Department of Agricultural Extension, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

PARC 2004, ‘Report Sub Group on Cropping Pattern of Working Group on Agriculture’, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Islamabad.

Schultz, T.P. 2002, ‘Why governments should invest more to educate girls’, WorldDevelopment, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 207-225.

Sheikh, I., Bhatti, T. and Munshi P. 2015, ‘Study on problems faced by women in higher educational institutions in Sindh, Pakistan’, The Sindh University Journal of Education, vol. 44, no. 01, pp. 173-193.

Tunali, I. 1996, ‘Education and work: experiences of 6-14 year old children in Turkey, Education and labour market in Turkey: Proceedings of a seminar held in Ankara, Turkey, State Institute of Statistics, Turkey.

UNESCO 2015, ‘Global Education Monitoring Report - The Education for All Development Index’, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO, Parris, France, < http://en.unesco.org/gem-report/education-all-development-index>, accessed 16 Sept. 2016.

UNESCO 2010, ‘Why Gender Equality in Basic Education in Pakistan’, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO, Islamabad, Pakistan.

UNDP 2015, ‘Human Development Report 2015, United Nations Development Programme- UNDP, New York, USA, <http://hdr.undp.org>, accessed 14 April 2017.

Yaqoob, T. 2012, ‘Socio-Cultural Constraints Faced by Girls Regarding Access to their Secondary Education in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa’, International Journal of Management Science and Business Research, vol. 1, no.12, pp.11-19.

Published

2017-12-31

How to Cite

Luqman, M., Shahbaz, B., Shiewi , X., & Wen, Y. (2017). Factors Contributing to Gender Disparity in Education in Rural Areas: Evidence from Three Districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of Development Policy Research & Practice (JoDPRP), 1(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.59926/jodprp.vol01/01

Issue

Section

Articles