Pakistan
In Pakistan, 12 million girls are out of school, and only 13% of girls advance to grade 9. At the existing rate, it would take the country at least 50 years to enrol all girls in school.
Social norms such as gender stereotypes and preference for educating boys continue to prevent girls from accessing education. Pakistan lacks the number of free, quality schools and female teachers needed to adequately educate girls. Additionally, education that centres girls and prepares them for the workforce remains scarce. As a result, families feel pressured to marry girls off early or send them into domestic or paid labour.
Despite the government’s commitment to increase the number of schools, Pakistan spends less than 2% of GDP on education.