¹ú²úÊÓƵ

Despite increases in access to education in Pakistan, the country still has the third highest out-of-school population in the world and nearly half of the children who are enrolled drop out before the age of 16. Girls drop out at a rate twice that for boys, lowering female literacy rates in some areas to a mere 8 percent. Indeed, some 25 million children – one in three – have not completed primary school.

With 60 percent of Pakistan’s population living on less than $1 a day, a meaningful education is the only viable pathway to socio-economic empowerment, with each additional year of schooling increasing an individual’s earning by 10 percent. This is where Developments in Literacy (DIL), a Pakistan-based non-profit, comes in: educating and empowering underprivileged students, particularly girls, by operating student-centered schools and providing high-quality professional development to teachers and principals across Pakistan.

¹ú²úÊÓƵ is pleased to welcome DIL’s Founder and CEO, as well as participants from Pakistan who have benefited from DIL’s programs for a discussion on childhood education in rural Pakistan. The dialogue will explore the impact of DIL’s student-centered work in teacher training and women’s empowerment, as well as the role education can play in curbing corruption and violent radicalization.

Follow the discussion online using #PakLiteracy and following

Participants

Fiza Shah
Founder and CEO, Developments in Literacy

Sheereen Sail
Project Manager, DIL/NOWA

Moderator:

Shamila Chaudhary
Senior South Asia Fellow, International Security Program, ¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Senior Advisor to Dean Vali Nasr, School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins