The Issue
The issue
Pakistan currently has the second highest number of out-of-school children in the world — and most are girls. Child marriage, restriction of movement, gender discrimination and poor sanitary facilities prevent girls from completing their education. Not enough girls’ schools and female teachers also contribute to high dropout rates.
Madiha’s approach
MediaGrowing up in Pakistan, Madiha moved around with her family due to her father’s army career. Because quality girls’ schools were not always available in different regions, her parents tutored her at home. Their unwavering support for her education inspired Madiha to dedicate her career to helping girls who face the greatest barriers to learn. Madiha now works as the director of programmes at AzCorp Entertainment, a social enterprise in Pakistan creating engaging educational content about social issues for young people.
With her grant, Madiha will oversee a campaign to teach girls in Karachi, Sukkur and Khairpur to advocate for their education through storytelling. During two-day workshops, Madiha will teach 4,000 girls and educators about the importance of sharing your own story. Girls will discuss barriers to education in their communities and work together to identify solutions. Following these workshops, girls will then write original stories based on their lives. AzCorp Entertainment will publish select stories from the workshop as comic books, which they will distribute to local schools. Madiha and AzCorp Entertainment will also use the stories from the workshops to inform their advocacy campaign. Through meetings, policy briefs and a provincial-level conference with government officials, they will push for policy changes that support girls’ education.
More about Madiha
There are 10 other Education Champions working in Pakistan.
