The Malala Moment and Reforming Pakistan's Education System

Published in CLAWS Web, 10th December 2012

Malala Yousufzai has emerged as an icon for countless girls in repressed societies. On 10 October 2012, she survived a brutal attack in the Swat Valley by pro-Taliban elements who perceive women’s education as anti- Islamic. Malala is currently recovering in a Birmingham Hospital in UK where doctors have affirmed her steady recovery. She was attacked because she dared to continue her studies despite a diktat by the Taliban. She also spoke out against the Taliban which further enraged them. They claimed that her opposition to the Taliban reflected support for Western values which had no place in Islamic society. 

Malala had already earned fame through her diaries, which were broadcast by BBC in 2009 when she was only 11 years old. Her writings reveal the fear which prevails in the minds of many girls like her who yearn for knowledge, but are forced to discontinue their studies under threat of bodily harm in regions under Taliban domination. In January 2009, she wrote: “Today our teacher told us not to wear colorful dress that might make Taliban angry”. She also described instances when the students had to walk past the dead bodies of those who had defied the laws laid down by Taliban.

Malala Day was observed on November 10 and people around the world resolved to protest against gender inequality in education. It gave women and girls all across the world an opportunity to reclaim their right to Education. Attacks on activists and teachers advocating education for the girl child have been on the increase, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province where Taliban maintains a stronghold. 96 such cases have been reported in 2012 and the Pakistan Government seems unable to protect these people. In July, Fareeda Afridi, a women’s rights activist who worked towards promoting girl’s education was brutally murdered. So was Zarteef Afridi who worked as a teacher in a school run by the Government.

Many Pakistani’s have taken heart from the courage displayed by a young girl but the Malala moment has not been seized in a meaningful manner. However, the dastardly attack on Malala has drawn the attention of the world to the sordid state of education in Pakistan and its links to religious extremism. The World Bank suggests that the net primary enrollment rate in Pakistan is the lowest in South Asia. The roots of extremism continue to extend deeper into the education system in Pakistan and extremists exploit the weak to indoctrinate their minds with violence and intolerance. 

The free education system is tampered with by several religious clerics who channelise their ideologies to trap the young minds. Only a privileged few have an easy access to quality education; the majority has to make do with pitiable school facilities and lack of trained teachers. Poor curriculum content also provides a very narrow worldview to the students and breeds discontent..

All public, private institutions are required to treat Islamic studies as the most essential component in the curriculum, which is often mandated by the Government. In 2003, a report released by Sustainability Development Policy Institute (Pakistan) mentioned that several textbooks “encouraged prejudice, bigotry and discrimination towards women, religious minorities and other nations, especially India”. In 2008 Dr Marie Lall studied Pakistani and Indian school textbooks and concluded that “History has been selectively interpreted resulting in two largely polarised nations who had been instructed about their own exclusive national identity, which inevitably led to the conflict with the other country”

Education underwent drastic Islamisation under Zia-ul-Haq’s regime when Madrassas were constructed at a massive pace and in large numbers. It has been cited that that militants across the Pakistani borders are often products of these Madrassas resolute with their Jihadist agenda. Tariq Rehman in his study of education, inequality and polarisation of Pakistan conducted in 2005 found that a large number of students from madrassas supported open war or jihadist organisations to resolve the Kashmir conflict.

The Government of Pakistan in 2009 spent only 2.7 per cent of its GDP on education. In 2011, “Dawn”, a prominent newspaper in Pakistan, reported that “50 per cent (of school age students) cannot read a sentence”. Pakistan has one the highest illiteracy rates in the world, and second largest (when referred to school population) after Nigeria. While the male and female literacy rates as of 2009 were 69 per cent and 45 per cent respectively, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas showed a murkier state with male literacy rate at a dismal 28 per cent and female literacy rate at a mere 3 per cent.

Pervez Hoodbhoy, a professor at Quaid-e-Azam University has often spoken about the complacency of the Government and its skewed efforts to promote education. He claimed that “no Pakistani leader has had the courage to implement serious educational reforms”. Pakistan at present is going through a deep crisis in terms of a soaring military expenditure to counter internal and external conflicts. Also, the relief response to the 2010 and 2011 floods has had an overwhelming negative effect on basic issues like education, health and employment opportunities.

The attack on Malala invoked a strong reaction from all segments of Pakistani society which was shocked at the brutality inflicted on a young school going girl. The incident has also had a resonance on the political contours of Pakistan. Several leaders have promised reforms conducive to female education. However, the radical element such as Fazlur Rehman, head of Jamiat-Ulema-e- Fazl, have evoked conspiracy theories around the incident claiming it was an attempt by the West to defame Islam and Taliban. This incident however has awakened a vast majority in Pakistan which was lukewarm towards education. It has resurrected many more Malalas who are fighting for their right to basic education all over the world. Pakistan needs to seize the moment and exploit the support from the public in its efforts to marginalise the Taliban and what it stands for. If the cowardly attack on her helps in reforming Pakistan’s education system, then some good can perhaps still come out of the dastardly act.