Empowerment through Education in Pakistan

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.

New America 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.

Featuring Fiza Shah, Founder and CEO, Developments in Literacy; Sheereen Sail, Project Manager, DIL/NOWA; and, Shamila Chaudhary, Senior South Asia Fellow, International Security Program, New America, Senior Advisor to Dean Vali Nasr, School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins.