A Case Study on the Education of Christian Women in Pakistan

Abstract

Education plays an important role in the development of individuals and societies. Education is not only
confined to gain of knowledge but also inculcates the thrust to develop critical thinking and logical
reasoning. This is the reason why governments all over the world, thinktanks, researchers, academicians and international development organizations emphasize on educating people and it is declared as a basic human right, irrespective of gender, region, caste, ethnicity and religion. However, educational disparities exist all over the world. Cultural stereotypes, gender biases and lack of opportunities have forced the female segment of society away from education and literacy. Pakistan is
a multi-ethnic, multilingual and multi-religion country. The country has 5 percent of the population
declared non-Muslims as per the 2017 census. It is being postulated every now and then, that these
minorities face discrimination in all spheres of life including constitutional, practice to religion and
access to better job opportunities. It is also being argued that they are at a disadvantage when it comes
to the educational side. With this argument in the background, the instant study uses a qualitative
approach to analyse the situation of Christian female education in the country. The analysis is being
carried out on 2017 population census data. The study reveals that the Christian female are far behind
in the educational field as compared to overall educational standards in the country. Furthermore, they
face social discrimination, access to better educational institutes and lag behind in social inclusion. On
the basis of study, it is recommended that the country in general needs to be socially more inclusive
through legislation and policy making to encourage female from a minority.