Views of male and female participants of an adult literacy programme about the need and value of female education in rural Sindh

In Sindh, girls' minimum participation in basic education is associated with a number of impeding factors which range from lack of resources to parents' negative attitude towards female education. Many initiatives have been taken for improving female literacy in the country, but no fruitful outcomes have been achieved so far. In the near past, Government of Pakistan started a national Adult Literacy Programme (ALP) in all over the country in order to achieve Education for All (EFA) goals, with an assumption that the ALP might have allowed the participants to revisit their views about female education, the study was designed to explore how these participants of an ALP in district Matiari viewed the need and value of female education, resulting from their firsthand experience of getting education. The study design was guided by qualitative research. The research site was two villages of a union council in district Matiari where people had recently completed their 5-month duration adult literacy course in a national level ALP. The primary participants included 8 participants; 4 males and 4 females from each village, while four teachers of the same centers (2 males and 2 females) participated in the study as secondary participants. The data was generated through focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. The study found that the ALP had positive influence on the minds of the participants and they had started sending their children (particularly girls) to school. They had started taking interest in getting education themselves and also they viewed it pertinent for their children. The study recommends that the government, with collaboration with private/NGOs, can establish more schools for girls and provide them with basic resources. It may help reduce the dropout ratio and will encourage parents to send their girls to school.