“I tell my story not because it is unique, but because it is the story of many girls.” -Malala
Malala Fund’s 2021–2022 Annual Report highlights our recent progress for girls’ education.
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.
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.
Malala Fund believes that achieving progress requires action at multiple levels — sub-national, national and global — to achieve lasting impact for girls’ education.
“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)
60%
There are 3.7 million out-of-school children in Afghanistan — 60% are girls. (UNICEF)
42%
Most girls in rural Bangladesh dropout of school after primary school, with dropout rates at nearly 42 percent. (UNICEF)
