Pakistan

Pakistan has made significant progress for girls’ education in the last decade — but 12 millions girls are out of school, with only 13% of girls reaching grade nine.

Even with the demand for girls' education increasing across the country, girls face more barriers to their education than boys due to gendered social norms. Furthermore, there are not enough free, quality schools with female teachers to adequately educate Pakistan’s girls. The lack of girls’ secondary schools and poor quality of education that does not promise economic returns puts the pressure on families to marry their daughters off at the early age or send them into domestic or paid labour.

Our work in Pakistan

Malala Fund’s Education Champions work throughout Pakistan — in major cities like Karachi and Lahore — and in rural areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces to increase access to 12 years of quality education for girls. While there is political will to improve Pakistan’s schools, the government spends only half of what it should — 6% of total GDP — on education. Education Champions advocate for better resourcing education, to improve school infrastructure in rural regions and reach more girls with digital curricula.

“I want people in Pakistan to think about the quality of education, what are girls actually learning...I want girls to speak up and say, ‘I want to go to school and learn.”

— Huma Zia Faran, Programmes Lead, Pak Alliance for Maths and Science Welfare Trust (PAMS)

Today, Malala Fund supports 11 Education Champions in Pakistan.

UPDATES

02/22
Reaffirming Malala Fund’s long-term commitment to girls in Pakistan
01/21
Education Champions in Pakistan host panel on the impacts of COVID-19 on girls' education
06/20
Civil society demands no cut in annual education development budget in KP

Where we Work

Malala Fund works in regions where the most girls miss out on secondary education.