Lecture Note Prepared by

Dr M Sultana AlamDept of Social Studies and Citizenship

Faculty of Human SciencesSultana Idris University of Education

Gender gap in education in the developing countries

◦ India◦ Pakistan◦ Malaysia◦ Bangladesh

In most developing countries, girls lag markedly behind boys in education. Governments in these countries should favour girls when investing in education because social returns, in terms of child health and fertility, are higher from girls’ than from boys’ education. (MOHAMMAD. N, A., & NAZMUL, C., 2009; Journal of Development Studies)

India has one of the lowest female literacy rates in Asia, although the Indian government has expressed a strong commitment towards education for all.

Therefore , in India the overall literacy level is increasing. Despite the improvements in literacy, there continues to be a large gap between the literacy levels of men and of women.

There are several reasons for the low levels of literacy in India. Social-cultural norms is one of the important factor women’s lack of education in this country.

In India, gender discrimination is currently prominent and a major issue.

India has a rich religious and cultural heritage, extending about 5,000 years into the past. The population of India is multi-racial and multi-religious.

Sons as the shoulder of family income: In India, boys are considered to be responsible for parental well-being, so investment in them is seen as a rational decision, and cultural practices that reinforce the ‘giving away’ of girls at marriage are likely to serve as a disincentive for educating daughters.

Poverty : Poverty one of the reason that limit women’s education opportunity in developing countries. Although school attendance is free, the costs of books, uniforms, and transportation to school can be too much for poor families. Poor families are also more likely to keep girls at home to care for younger siblings or to work in family enterprises. If a family has to choose between educating a son or a daughter because of financial restrictions, typically the son will be chosen. This is socio-cultural practice.

Lack of female teachers: Lack of female

teachers is another potential barrier to girls’ education. Girls are more likely to attend school and have higher academic achievement if they have female teachers. This is particularly true in highly gender-segregated societies such as India .

Pakistan is an international outlier in terms of gender gaps in education.

The gender gap in various educational indicators has remained at very high levels in Pakistan in more recent times. This raises the question of why girls educational outcomes are so inferior to boys.

One possible explanation would seem to be that girls receive less attention and educational expenditure than boys in the within-household allocation of resources.

Gender is one of the organizing principles of Pakistani society. Patriarchal values embedded in local traditions and culture predetermine the social value of gender.

In Pakistan, though presently girls’ enrollment rates have risen over time and gender gaps have narrowed.

In Pakistan, especially, rural girls are in lag behind than men in education.

The rural women of Pakistan are far behind in education. The cultural norms of the society are reported to be major constraints in the schooling of rural girls.

In terms of educational attainment, Pakistan ranks at 129, with a 40 per cent female literacy rate. Enrollment in primary education is 67 per cent and drops down to 29 per cent in secondary education. One of the possible reasons for this could be that 16 per cent of the women get married between the ages of 15-19 years. The simulate mean age at marriage for women, however, is 23 years.

The literacy rate for urban women is more than five times the rate for rural women. The school dropout rate among girls is very high (almost 50 percent), the educational achievements of female students are higher as compared with male students at different levels of education.

The social -cultural context of Pakistani society is predominantly patriarchal.

Women have a low percentage of participation in society outside of the family.

In Pakistan , the role of culture in educating females is of vital importance. The socio cultural norms of the rural society of Pakistan keep the girls away from school.

In rural Punjab, the low level of girls enrolment in school can be viewed due to the cultural and religious norms of the society .

The traditional societies expecting females simply to perform household chores and to look after the younger children increase the chance of low parental investment in the education of their daughters.

In the area of education, there are written laws which categorically forbid discrimination against women and men with regard to education.

While women’s enrollment at all levels of education is comparable to men, their participation in vocational and technical education is limited.

In Malaysia, gender gap in technical and vocational education has been observed due to socio-cultural practice as these type of education offer better employment opportunity .

At the household level parents think that sons might more able to contribute to family income than daughters. Therefore, sons are preferred in this field.

This limits women from participating in new employment opportunities.

Though women got equal opportunity in education, they are discriminated against by their religions and cultures, particularly due to patriarchal ideology .

Malaysian women face much discrimination in the area of marriage and divorce through patriarchal attitudes.

The World Economic Forum Report on Global Gender Gap (2012) ranked Bangladesh 86th according to its gender gap index. Gender gap in Bangladesh is lower than in both neighboring India and Pakistan although GDP per capita in these countries are higher than Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, at national level women lag behind men in terms of literacy.

Although noteworthy achievements have been made in female enrollment at the primary/secondary level, progress has been very slow in tertiary level education.

By custom a patriarchal social system exists in Bangladesh.

The traditional patriarchal society of Bangladesh is based on class and gender divisions.

It is not felt necessary for Bangladeshi girls to receive formal education.

Education for girls is often considered irrelevant.

Most parents would only let their daughters learn the teaching and reciting the Quran.

Recently , a mini research has been conducted to determine the gender ideology in Bangladesh.

The respondents were women. They were asked whether they like to give equal opportunity to their children or not. The results, we can see in the graphs:

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Yes

No

Equ

al o

ppor

tuni

ty to

R's

child

ren

in e

duca

tion

Frequency (percent)

Yes Son Daughter

Daughter 3.2Son 64.7Yes 32.1

Yes No

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70Hig

her p

riorit

y on

son

's ed

ucat

ion

Frequency (percent)Son edu(%) 4.4 61.8 60.3 62.4 0 0

As more intelligent

As more contribute to

the family

As capable to provide all

supports to

As parent can live with son

in old age

As all of the above

As others

As parent can live with son in old age

As capable to provide all supports to the parents

As more contribute to the family

As more intelligent

0 20 40 60 80

Les

s pri

ority

on

daug

hter

ed

ucat

ion

Frequency (percent)Daugt edu (%) 3.8 58.8 23.5 62.4 0 0

As less inte lligent

As not parmanent

family

As early marrige

As not to able

contribute

As all of the above As others

As not to able contribute to family income

As early marrige

As not parmanent family member

As less intelligent

It is clear from the discussion that socio-cultural norms influence on gender gap in education in developing countries especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh .

Socio-cultural norms create gender-based inequality that limit women’s education opportunity in these countries.

It is important to note that in our society, both men and women, hold strong beliefs regarding appropriate behavior for women.

Women are often required to put men first, Women are often expected to defer to male authority. These socio-cultural beliefs give men greater power.

These attitudes and beliefs systems we can notice in our traditional society , thus a woman limit another women’s opportunity.

Overall , we can say that socio-cultural norms has an influence on gender gap in education in developing countries.

و الصالة و لله الحمدالله رسول على السالم