In Balochistan 25.6 percent of girls’ schools were among the closed schools, and alone Awaran district has 138 closed schools, while overall 1800 schools closed. All clad in boys wears, riding on her motorbike living in a village miles away from Quetta, Khadija, 18, is on the mission to meet a well-educated future while resisting all tribal and cultural odds. Though, her motorbike ride and going around the city in boys’ cloths and hairstyle is agitated by the relatives but her father, a teacher, support Khadija to become “Chartered Accountant”.

Khadija says, “The tribal minded conservative people never understand how important modern education for girls is, so my relatives have approached my parents to stop my bike riding and going to college alone, but to no avail, as me and my parents have rejected all their blames”.

The relatives may be thinking if someday “I bring shame for them” as every individual of the society and believing in social taboos think that way. But her mission to complete education and become a professional official of accounting would always prove them wrong, told Khadija.

“I live in a poor family, the father pay is not enough for my college and its transport expenses, so I made the choice why not to learn bike riding and boy clothing to overcome the cat calling, harassing statements by the road passers? Because I cannot accompany my little brothers to go safely in the patriarchal society”, says Khadija, a college student.

“We do not have girls-college around so I move to college on my bike clad in boys cloths and it has been two and half years that I do riding”, says Khadija.

None in the society understand Khadija, if he or she is riding on the bike. This is why she is feeling safe and keeping her arms up to complete her education. “It is hard to change the cloths and clad in boy wears but the more important is my aim of life to complete education, so I don’t feel tired of changing my cloths every time I enter my college common room for girls”, says Khadija.

Alike Khadija, thousands of girls leave their education midway because of social taboos and conservative thoughts about girls’ education and the patriarchal structure of the society that is never giving upper hand to girls/women to become empowered.

Sadiqa, 50, was forced to stop her two daughters attending 8th class at girls’ school in the city. After she was approached by a faraway relative that none in the town are ready to send their puberty age crossed girls to schools so she must stop her daughters as well as per the rules of their tribe.

“They [the girls] were regular, with good marks and functional but what can one do when it comes to the tribal codes and beliefs?” sadly asks Sadiqa, the mother.

Nadia, 15, stopped from going to school now watch TV shows and read the newspaper and magazines her brothers in college bring home. “We loved reading, writing, and were aiming to become teachers or doctors one day but our fate is in the hands of male relatives, especially father, brothers or even faraway cousins”.

[The population survey, the girl’s education number, their schools, their comparison to boy’s schools and numbers should be brought here….. with a source]

The Balochistan Real Time Education 2018-19 reports reads that it has surveyed 10971 schools out of a total of 14855, where 25.6 percent of girls’ schools were among the closed schools, according to the educational survey statistics there are 3974 girls’ school in the province.

The principal of government girls’ high school Jinnah Town, Quetta verify the girls’ leaving their education midway. Khadija Lashari, an educationist and expert leading girls’ school states that though the number of girls leaving school midway is lesser than the girls in peripheries as people are aware and believe in the girls’ empowerment and their role in society after completing education. “Since March-the start of educational year 2019, some 25 girls has been forced to leave education midway”, verifies Lashari. “It is heartening both for us the teachers and the school leaving girls but how one can stand before the will of their parents and relatives”.

Most of the school leaving girls either get married or some of them were those who could not afford the transport because of having poor family background, told Lashari.

Majority of these girls are getting married below 18 years, a custom practiced here, so they cannot keep continue their education ahead.  As most of the married girls become functional housewives. A second category of girls who are leaving school are those girls who are either being followed by boys or tried to get harassed that way either cannot tell their parents, if they tell them they are forced to stop going to school owing to the tribal codes and the patriarchy system, told Lashari.

One of the social activists Sana Durrani verifies the statement of the education expert Lashari. “Many girls are married young, those who are going to school and complete their education are not getting attraction in the society, a perception built in the society”, says Sana Durrani.

This is the reason whenever people come asking hands of their daughter, the parents never resist and they set them get married. And those who complete education is rarely given chance to join offices and professional activities. Because here the society consider them housewives no matter if they are having engineering or medical doctor degrees in their files, they only remain to cook, wash dishes and cloths. They are not judged by their education and capabilities but alone the labor they face at homes after getting married, told Sana Durrani.

“Several regions are not having girls’ schools; if they have it is not having transport to make it possible for millions of girls go to school around the province. This is the reason very few even below the 1 percent of these girls join universities and higher education”, says Sana Durrani.

On one side the tribal elders are hurdle in the way to girls’ education on the other these chiefs have either turned girls’ schools into guest houses or cattle farming rooms. So there is a dire need of awareness and governance to focus girls’ education, we need more professional and empowered girls who would be a track for the development of the society, told Sana Durrani.

The documents by the Education Ministry of Balochistan states that in the year 2018, 99 primary schools were upgraded to become middle and 93 middle schools were upgraded as high schools while 45 high schools were upgraded as secondary school and 7673 teachers and staff members posts created and the posting process is continuing, the upgraded schools include 67 primary, 65 middle and 21 high schools for girls.

One of the female social activist and the member of the Balochistan provincial assembly Shakila Naveed Dehwar says, “30 percent of the female are illiterate, its main reason is the drop out of schools, as they have neither schooling in faraway villages nor having a proper system of transport to reach schools as well as the society do not consider the female education that important because of no awareness and economic problems”.

“If the government plan placing educational institutions in far away areas, with scholarships for a focus on girls education the number of dropout and those out of school children will lower and we can achieve our mission for having more schools and more children especially girls in schools”, says Mrs Dehwar.

The secretary of education Mr. Tayyab Lehri confirmed that across the province 1800 schools are closed. The lone district of Awaran is having 138 closed schools where none of the teacher goes nor the educational process is continuing. “We are the lone province that has turned the government primary schools ‘gender free’ where both male and female children can sit and keep their studies continuing”, says Lehri.

“We have a one billion PKR project to provide the basic necessities of drinking water to these schools, the upgraded schools would have the inter classes in areas where we’ve no college in nearby, most of the girls’ schools is our target to minimize the dropout and out of school children number, we’ll be filling out the 15 thousand vacant posts of teachers, 2000 of them would be Senior Science Teachers”, says Lehri.