Education for Girls who Have Dropped Out of School

September 9, 2016 | Millard Mott

Report of Friends of Pakistan USA trip to Pakistan in May 2016: An hour outside of Faisalabad, Pakistan, we visited a two-room school house for adult women who had dropped out of school because of family or economic pressure. The Al Bari Adult Education Center provides classes to women so they can complete their 10th grade requirements at an individualized pace. The Education Center was started by two young Pakistani professionals, Bari and his wife Sadia, a lawyer and teacher respectively.

Nadra, the daughter of carpet weavers, was one of the program’s first students. To get her father’s permission to participate in the program, she went on a hunger strike for three days. Her parent’s relented, she joined the classes and has since completed grade 14 (MA) and has become a teacher. After resisting initially, the families in her village are now supporting women’s education.