The Status of Women Education in Merged District Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

Women education plays vital role in the socioeconomic development of a nation. The population of women is about half of the total population of Pakistan. However, in the education sector they are far behind the male population of the country. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa especially Erstwhile Federally Administrated Tribal Area (FATA) has the problem regarding the gender equality with respect to the literacy rate. The government of Khyber Pakhtunkwa has initiated the implementation of reforms which were introduced as result of the 25th constitutional amendment. This research study is an effort to investigate the factors affecting the women education in the newly merged district Bajaur of Ex-FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. For this purpose, a mixed method has been used to investigate the main reasons creating barriers to women education in the former FATA. The researcher has conducted interviews and gathered data through questionnaire from 100 male respondents in Bajaur district. The major findings of the study depict that the key factors which are affecting women education in this area are the lack of female educational institutions, lack of female teaching staff, inadequate transport system, ineffective education policies, religious conservatism and cultural barriers.