Barriers to Female Education in Rural Areas: A Case Study of District Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Education of females is pivotal and considered as fundamental to achieving sustainable development in the society and nations. No nation can rise to the height of glory unless equal participation of female is ensured in all sphere of life. Continues gender discrimination, along with unequal distributions of basic rights, resources and opportunities for female have observed across the words (Esther et al., 2020).In most developing countries especially in South Asian region, the opportunities for female education are not satisfactory, and numerous social, cultural, religious, and family barriers create obstacles. These intersecting barriers created
by patriarchalmind-setplay a vital role, and have considerable negative impacts on the life and achievement of education by females (UNICEF, 2020).However,in recent decades a substantial progress has been observed in female education. The females prove themselves as high achiever in education and assumed great responsibility in various fields. But unfortunately this number is very limited, and the gender discrimination in families and society slow down this process. To understand the basic reasons and barriers to female education, this primary study was conducted, in district Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan. The data for the study was collected from 324 respondents (female students)from various female degree colleges of Gujranwala, throughstructured questionnaire. Descriptive and statistical tests were applied to find out the result of the study.