Pathway to progress: Girls making the grade in rural Sindh Theresa Castillo, MA CHES * Teachers College, Columbia University

Sindh Profile Second largest province (~42 million, 23.7% primary school age) Economic growth ( ; GDP 18%) Impact of floods ( ) Urban/Rural disparities Low performance scores on learning outcomes

Gender Parity Index (GPI)  One gender indicator  Measures enrollment, not attendance or learning gaps  Rural/Urban Divide = Slow progress Gender Parity Index for Sindh Province, primary vs. secondary schools ( ) Source: UNESCO Islamabad. (2011). Policy analysis of education in Sindh.

Research Questions & Expected Results Is there a relationship between girls’ enrollment and the type of school? Are girls learning differently, depending up on the type of school? Is there a relationship between boys/girls/mixed schools and learning environment?

Sample Size Methods 22 rural districts 12,806 households 40,488 children 58% boys, 42% girls Ages 3-16 years 706 schools (gov/priv) ASER 2012 data sets: Household mother/child, government school, & private school Sindh- Rural Area focus Cross-tabulations Chi-square tests, p<.05 Case Study Design

Education at a glance: Where are the girls? School Enrollment Out of School Types of Schools

Comparison of School Enrollment, by Gender, Ages 6-16 Education at a glance: Where are the girls?  Nearly 2x’s more rural boys vs girls enrolled  Rural boys and Urban girls have similar %  Urban girls enrolled at twice the rate of rural girls  Little change from 2010 to 2012

Education at a glance: Where are the girls? (n=24,324) % Rural Enrollment 2012, by Type of School & Gender  The greatest share of girls enrollment is in Madrassa and Non-formal education(NFE)/ Other

Education at a glance: Where are the girls? BoysGirlsTotal Dropouts*4.2%3.5%7.7% Never Enrolled* 11.6%13.1%24.7% Total- Rural15.8%16.6%32.4% Total-Karachi4.5%1.9%6.4% Statistically significant, p<.001 % Out of School, ages 6-16 (dropouts/leftouts) Increase since 2011: 29.5% out of school 37.8% of boys and girls dropout in grade 5 Of those never enrolled, 48% boys, 52% girls

Education at a glance: Where are the girls? Rural Girls’ Enrollment, by School Type  More girls enrolled in gov schools ( 90 %) compared to all other schooling.  Smaller percentages : Private 8.7%, Madrassa 0.7%,Other 0.6%

Are Girls Learning Literacy and Numeracy Skills? Literacy Reading letters Reading a story Numeracy Recognizing numbers 1-9 Complete simple subtraction

% Learning Outcomes, by Gender and Type of School Results:  Government and private schools were statistically significant across all outcomes (p=.000)  Reading letters was statistically significant (p<.05) for girls in Madrassas and girls and boys in Other  Math 1-9 was statistically significant (p<.001) for both in Other

% Learning Outcomes for Girls, by Type of School

Does Learning Environment Matter? Environment Variables Drinking Water Boundary Wall Usable Toilets -Menstrual Hygiene Management Mother’s Education Female Teachers Government & Private Schools Surveyed, by category (2012)

Government Private % Availability of Resources by School Category (n=85) (n=621); * Statistically significant, p< 0.05

Mother’s Education % School Enrollment, by Mother Education, by Gender ( n=24,324); * Statistically significant, p<.001

Female Teachers UNESCO (2011) reports for Sindh province, 20o9/2010:  1/5 teachers in rural public primary schools are women;  Women account for approximately 1/4 teachers in rural public secondary;  30% of teachers are women in madrassas  No disaggregated data available for teachers Source: UNESCO Islamabad. (2011). Policy analysis of education in Sindh.

Study Limitations Urban sample was too small for comparison (Karachi only) Aggregate data ( i.e. teachers gender, mixed schools) Limited information on Madrassas Inability to link the household data to school data

Recommendations Qualitative research to explore differences in schools in relation to girls’ enrollment (such as defining barriers, attitudinal changes, etc.) Conduct more research to better understand the role of Madrassas in girls’ education. Conduct more exploratory research on the relationship between school type and learning outcomes. Advocate for more resources in mixed government schools for toilets. boundary walls and drinking water to achieve optimal, given 90% of enrolled girls attend these schools. Disaggregate data ( i.e. urban/rural, gender, school category) needed in order to understand disparities Incorporate gender-responsive indicators and maps into future assessments (i.e. mixed schools, teacher gender)

Acknowledgements ASER Pakistan Sahar Saheed Huma Zia Photo credits: ASER Pakistan & UNICEF We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education for everyone. ~ Malala Yousafzai