UNESCO

© Bartosz Hadyniak
According to the
UNESCO Gender and
EFA 2000-2015,
providing free
textbooks for girls
and recruiting
female teachers
have helped improve
the accessibility
and quality of
girls’ education at
primary and lower
secondary levels in
India. Three young
girls in the Rajasthan
Desert (India) share
a tablet device.
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Education for girls
Countries all over the world are now fully
aware of the importance of educating
girls to create a fundamental asset in all
aspects of development. UNESCO and
the Government of Pakistan launched
a three-year ‘Girls’ Right to Education’
programme to support access, retention
and improving the quality of girls’
education in hardest-to-reach areas of
the country through capacity-building
and targeted interventions at both
institutional and community levels.
In a video statement, the Director-
General said: ‘This major initiative
reflects the deep commitment of the
Government of Pakistan to support girls’
education as a human rights issue and
as a breakthrough strategy for human
development and peace.’ The programme
is being implemented in 12 districts with
low enrolment, low illiteracy rates for
adults (particularly women), and poor
retention of girls in primary schools.
The programme aims to get 50,000 more
girls enrolled in primary schools,
increase their retention and improve
learning outcomes by supporting access,
quality and safe learning environment.
In a UNESCO project sponsored by
Nokia, girls are using mobile phones to
practice handwriting and improve their
literacy. One participant said: ‘I said to
my mother I need to be educated and
my mother eventually agreed because
she said I had helped her a lot and
I deserved it.’ Pakistan’s Minister of State
for Federal Education and Professional
Training declared: ‘The government
aims to introduce ICT in all schools in
the country.’