Education and International Development: Concepts, Theories and Issues

Exploring Gender Disparities and the implementation of EFA goal 5 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern Pakistan

Joseph Collins

Date: 02/05/2013 Word count: 5371 (Excluding Cover and Reference Pages)

MA Educational Planning, Economics and International Development

Introduction

This paper will address the issue of continued gender disparities in education in Pakistan, which in 2009 had a Gender Parity Index of 0.65 "amongst the lowest in the world" (SPARC 2010: 158). Rather than consider the consequences of such disparities themselves the paper will explore the implications of implementing Education For All goal 5 in Pakistan (achieve gender parity in education by 2005, gender equality by 2015 1,) a country with often highly conservative attitudes towards women. To sharpen the focus of the essay it will be limited to discussing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in Northern Pakistan. Despite seemingly uniform international and Pakistan government pressure to the alternative "in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the gender gap [in schooling] is very prominent [and] could be widening" (SPARC 2010: 159) 2. Achieving universal primary education has been part of Pakistans national education policies since the 1950s (Farah and Bacchus 1999: 227). This egalitarian view of education was re-confirmed in the National Education Policy 2009 (MoEd 2009: 16) and the 18 th Constitutional Amendment of Pakistan. This amendment bought government policy in-line with goals and commitments made at Dakar enshrining in law that, [t]he State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such a manner as may be determined by law. (I-SAPS). The 2009 national policy explicitly states that the current policy document was structured to reflect the goals and targets of the MDG and EFA movements including the achievement of gender parity in education (MoEd 2009: 7). However, throughout Pakistan according to SPARC, "girls face some of the highest barriers to education. It has been estimated that nearly 62% of out
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http://www.unesco.org.uk/education_for_all#EFA Goals (Accessed 01/05/2013) A note on the Taliban: The Pakistan Taliban has destroyed 700 schools in KP during their insurgency (SPARC 2010: 149). The presence of the Taliban in the region has created a significant threat with their "blatant opposition to girls' education and destruction of their school buildings" (SPARC 2010: 159) and exasperated existing inequalities and infrastructure issues. The recent government attempts to clear the Taliban presence, while no guarantee of continuing stability, does suggest a return to pre-Taliban norms. In this context the importance of Pashtun culture in determining social norms will resurface in the region and will be the focus of this paper.
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of school girls are unlikely ever to enrol in schools" (2010: 158). UNESCO Institute for Statistics most recent data from 2010 shows net primary enrolment for males at 81%, while female enrolment is just 67% 3. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the gender gap is especially large, in 2009 the Gender Parity Index for the province stood at just 0.42 (Lall 2009: 116). The World Inequality Database on Education shows that in 2006 61% of females aged 15-24 in KP had not completed primary education, while that figure rises to 92% for females from the poorest families4. The paper will explore the multiple layers of power relations and exclusions that perpetuate such gender inequalities: First the global context of Pakistan, then the tensions and exclusionary practices between federal authority and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government will be discussed. Within-province inequalities and exclusion will then be considered looking at the discrimination of poor rural women. Next the paper will explore the local-majority Pashtun culture with a focus on attitudes towards girl's formal education. Lastly the two theoretical perspectives will be utilised to explore how proponents might understand the issue of gender inequality, and to consider how each theoretic framework might argue differently for equality in the complex scenario that makes up Pakistans education system. These analyses will seek to highlight the limitations and assumptions of each theoretical approach; arguing that ultimately the hegemonic vision offered by RBA are too insensitive to local situations and complexities and, whilst TOR can help deconstruct the hegemonic view, the innately sceptical and classbased focus is itself insensitive to gender issues and offers contradictory ideas about legitimate reproduction that threaten to undermine any meaningful attempt to reshape education.

http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121&IF_Language= eng&BR_Country=5860&BR_Region=40535 (Accessed 01/05/2013) 4 http://www.education-inequalities.org/countries/pakistan/indicators/noprim_1524/regions#? Dime nsion=region&group=|Punjab|North-West%20Frontier%20Province&dimension2=sex&group2= |Male |Female&dimension3=wealth_quintile&age_group=noprim_1524&year=2006 (Accessed 01/05/13)

Context Pakistan: With a Human Development Index of 0.515 Pakistan remains significantly below the world average of 0.694 and trails the South Asian average of 0.558, ranking 146th in the world5. UNDP statistics also show that 21% of the population lives below the poverty line. In such a context it is perhaps unsurprising that Pakistan relies heavily on foreign aid in many sectors; 10% of total education spending comes from foreign aid (Malik and Naveed 2012). According to Malik and Naveed this has meant, the influence of multilateral and bilateral donors and the international development agenda in Pakistan is clear and present (5) and can be seen in the rhetorical commitment to EFA and MDG goals in the 18th Amendment and numerous other education policies (Farah and Shera 2007). The Pakistan government currently spends just 2.4% of GDP on education6, which is less than India at 3.3%7 and significantly below Nepal at 4.7%8. This amounts to just 10% of total public spending, which is lower than 17-20% spent on the military over the last 5 years as reported by the World Bank9. Such historic underinvestment has meant that many poor, rural areas have schools with dilapidated or non-existent buildings and unqualified teachers of dubious quality, (Naseem and Arshad-Ayaz 2007: 85) while Farah and Bacchus note that previous governments had an explicit policy of building two male schools for each female institution in rural settings (1999: 232). Even such a cursory analysis highlights two inter-related zones of exclusion emerging in the education sector which will be the basis of this paper: women and rural communities.
5 6

http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PAK.html (Accessed 01/05/13) See footnote 3 7 http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx? ReportId=121&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=3560&BR_Region=40535 (Accessed on 01/05/13) 8 http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx? ReportId=121&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=5240&BR_Region=40535 (Accessed 01/05/13) 9 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.ZS (Accessed on 01/05/13)

Within Pakistan regional and ethnic inequalities are stark and have been the cause of political strife since partition in 1947 (Waseem 2010). The 18th Amendment saw devolution of power to provincial governments and was the result of long-standing tensions between the Federal government, which is seen to be dominated by Punjab elites, and provincial governments, which largely represent different majority ethnic groups (such as the Pushtan in KP). The Federal government raises 93% of the total revenue with just 7% coming from the various provinces, which makes provincial governments highly dependent on central government to fulfil their spending obligations in the form of National Finance Commission awards (Ibid: 12). These regional tensions are heightened by the makeup of the government: representation in the National Assembly is based on population and thus controlled by the Punjab state, which has around 58% of the population. Waseem highlights that despite a bicameral federal organization the sole authority for fiscal decisions rests with the Punjab-dominated National Assembly, which has facilitated inequitable funding in Pakistan (2010: 9). Such fiscal inequalities can in part help explain the differences seen in the education system: literacy rates in Punjab stand at 58% and only 47% in KP, while the GPI for Punjab stands at 0.72 compared to the 0.42 of KP province (Lall 2009: 116). Waseem states that there is strong suspicion of a profile of punjabization of the state that underscores the demand for provincial autonomy (2010: 11). Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, or land of the Pashtun, is the Pakistani province that borders Afghanistan and is dominated by the Pashtun people who make up 70% of the population (Abbas 2009: 243). It has been the subject of numerous independence movements lead primarily by the Pashtun people who have sought greater independence from the federal government of Islamabad (Jones 1993). Jones suggests that the central governments policies can be seen as the domination and exclusion from power of the minority provincial people by the powerful central government (1993; 52).

Jones suggests that such exclusion is furthered by the collusion of rich land-owning Pashtuns, khans, who together with the federal government have dominated local life and politics at the expense of the majority (44). This is supported by the data from the World Inequality Database that shows only 18% of the poorest girls in KP attend school compared to 78% of the richest quintile10. A study into disparities between urban and rural areas in KP shows such resource disparity in a huge gulf in the public provision of roads, sanitation, health and education (Rahman, Hayat, Habib, Iqbal 2011). With reference specifically to issues of gender equality a report into female empowerment amongst Pashtun women in KP found that 78% of respondents listed state and political administration as a major factor constraining their potential, while policy discrimination (87%) and lack of representation (86%) further suggest an officially legitimated exclusion of women (Naz and Chaudhry 2011: 263). It can be seen that internationally, nationally and even within the province of KP there exist large inequalities in educational opportunity and the distribution of wealth, a situation that especially restricts the opportunities of women in KP (Naz, Daraz, Khan, Hussain, Khan 2011). This paper argues that to fully understand the inequalities and consider appropriate responses it is important to look at the people and cultural norms that have played an important role in creating and sustaining such large disparities at a local level (Farah and Bacchus 1999). As Gready and Ensor (2005) note rights, such as the right to education and gender equality promoted by EFA goal 5, are primarily claimed or denied at the local level, with law enforcement as the last resort. The Pashtun: In 1893 a British diplomat Henry Durand negotiated a peace settlement between Afghanistan and British colonial India (post-partition, Pakistan). The Frontier province of then British-India, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was created11. However the border has proved controversial "because it runs
10
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See footnote 4 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/2032986/Pakistan-renames-North-WestFrontier-Province-to-end-colonial-anachronism.html

through an area that is the traditional homeland of an ethnic group whose members used to be called Afghansand now are most commonly known as Pashtuns" (Tarzi and Lamb 2011: 2). The Pashtun of KP therefore form part of an ethnic group of around 49 million people living primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Jamal 2012: 3). According to the influential Norwegian anthropologist Fredrik Barth, Pashtuns are a "highly self-aware ethnic group" who despite diversities of geography and life-style share "unambiguous" social boundaries (1981: 105). These boundaries can largely be seen to be governing inclusion and exclusion in society: the adherence to the Pashtun code, or Pashtunwali determines the role and relative position of women and strangers, as well as the honour and social acceptability of men (Ibid). According to Cathell Pashtunwali "has been completely interwoven into every facet of Pashtun life for over a thousand years" (2009: 11) and to understand the context of female education in KP province it is therefore important to see it within the context of the Pushtan cultural code. Pashtunwali: The way of the Pashtuns' or Pashtunwali has been described as "a common law, a set of values, a code and a manner of living" (Hawkins 2009: 16). Emphasis is given to the importance to Pashtun people of living according to this code: that what defines them across tribes and countries is doing Pashto', meaning "to act honourably and to be guided by the values of Pashtunwali"(Lutz 2011: 1): in this way the code is both sustained by and reproduced in each generation whose inclusion or exclusion in local society is determined largely by their adherence to Pashtunwali. Lutz defines the behavioural expectations of Pashtunwali as the dichotomy of honour and shame and suggests that male and female honour is interdependent (2011: 9). The importance of honour is salient to the concerns of this paper: Dupree finds that Pashtuns typically identify Pirdah (gender differences) with the defence of the honour of women (cited in Kakar: 4) and as a result the gendered nature of social relations is fundamental to Pashtun culture, and the protection of honour in society.

Pirdah meaning veil' refers to the segregation of male and female spaces and is tied to the concept of honour both for men and women (Strickland 2007:50). By identifying defence of the honour of women (through gender segregation) with male honour (which determines inclusion in society) the gendered dimension of the code is reproduced through the exclusion of women from public areas which might expose them to shame (and of course empower them), such as schools, councils and the workplace. This is noticeable in reasons given for non-attendance at school amongst girls: Farah and Shera suggest that lack of parents permission was the most commonly stated reason and that often brothers and extended family took lead roles in protesting against girls education in the name of honour (2007: 19). Kakar suggests that gender differences largely place limits on femalesthe exclusions for men are largely within private spaces (such as female areas of the home), while public spaces (such as the shura or council) are often zones of exclusion for women (2005: 5). In a study of the impediments to womens empowerment and development in KP province Pashtunwali was most consistently cited as a major socio-cultural impediment (Naz and Chaudhry 2011: 23). A 2011 study on constraints on girls education in KP found that a gender biased social structure which ignores women in the context of education was the most commonly cited constraint with cultural rules about womens free movement being noted 77% of the time, and the Pashtun code specifically cited by as many as 71% of the respondents (Naz et al 2011: 81). This introductory section has attempted to highlight the complex interaction of various power dynamics and attendant policies of exclusion that are at work within Pakistan and preclude any simplified or reductive comments on the situation in Pakistan in a homogenous way. Assessing the current scenario of the schooling system in KP and the challenges that face it requires looking at the political and institutional tensions that are seen to exist between the federal and provincial governments, and even within the province itself in the form of regional and gender inequalities and conflicts.

Right-Based Approaches As Gready and Ensor point out there is a great diversity in understandings of what constitutes a rights-based approach (2005: 1). Nyamu-Musembi and Cornwall suggest that fundamental to RBA is the conceptual move of development from meeting basic needs to enabling people to recognize and claim rights (2004: 45). Alongside this is the recognition of people not as objects of charity but as rights-bearers, as well as expanding the concept of duty-holders outwards beyond the state to include multilateral and bilateral agencies, and within to include individuals of the state; such as parents (Ibid). One of the great strengths of a rights-based approach to education is the strong normative framework established in international law by which duty-holders can be measured (Nyamu-Musembi and Cornwall 2004). This paper will focus on the rights-based approach as conceptualized by UNESCO as lead organization of the EFA movement, which is fundamentally underpinned by the conception of education as a human right (McCowan 2010). Katarina Tomasevski has offered a more detailed normative model of human rights than that offered in the loose framework of international treaties. Her oft-cited 4-A scheme, which has been widely promoted and utilized by UNESCO, implies that education should be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable (2004). 4-As and Pakistan public education: Fundamental to Tomasevskis concept of availability is the concept of quality: available education is necessarily quality education (2004). Yet in Pakistan public financing remains low and there have been limited attempts to introduce incentives for girls education leading to poor quality schooling and gender disparity (SMART 2010: 159). The poor provision and under-funding of education leading to only 1 in 3 girls from KP attending schools (Ibid) can be seen as government failure to make education available, and thus breaches the rights of children, especially girls, in KP. Tomasevskis concept of acceptability is associated with both school input and outcomes, which includes labour market opportunities (2004: 28).

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A RECOUP study in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 12 found that 69% of women were out of the labour force13 compared to just 8% for men. Amongst the 31% of women in work only 35% were in some form of paid labour, while 34% were unpaid family (Aslam, De, Kingdom and Kumar 2012: 98). This is significant from a rights perspective in that female economic dependency on male family members and the burdens of unpaid work were cited as two of the major impediments to womens empowerment and gender development in a study of Pashtun women in KP (Naz and Chaudhry 2011). The disconnect between schooling and labour opportunities can be seen as a further failing of Pakistans education system to provide girls with the equal right to quality education, and thus personal empowerment through work, demanded by international law. Using rights as a normative framework allows RBA practitioners to highlight such deficiencies in government policy: it also offers solutions of how to solve such issues, which normally coalesce around issues of state-based supply (Robeyns 2006). This however leads to one of the major criticism of rights-based approaches to education; the focus on the role and duty of government as provider is seen to occur at the exclusion of alternative actors and local power dynamics, as well as a more subtle understanding of demand-side issues (Robeyns 2006). Rights beyond the State: Major questions have been asked of the ability of RBA, which are based on international law, to be effective in the everyday lives of the people RBA are meant to help (Nyamu-Musembi and Cornwall 2004). In relation to the power dynamics discussed in the previous section it could be argued that EFA as a rights-based approach deals with global inequalities by placing pressure on the Pakistan government to conform to its international agreements. This is evidenced by Pakistans recognition of such rights in the 2010 18th Amendment discussed previously. What is less clear is how RBA

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While the paper does not offer disaggregated provincial results it does state that the situation is worse in KP than the figures presented which average across KP and the more progressive and economically vibrant Punjab 13 Defined as those not currently employed or looking for work

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can be effective in dealing with the centre-provincial inequalities and disputes, as well the complexities of cultural constraints seen in KP. As Menon points out, the centrality of the state in EFA policy, or in the case of Pakistan the Federal government, becomes a concern when the state is part of the problem (cited in Robeyns 2006: 77). The tensions between the Federal government and Punjabi legislators on one side, and KP citizens on the other pose problems for RBA: arguably in such a scenario the only way to achieve the right to education is to remove the central control seen to perpetuate gender inequalities through inequitable resource allocation. According to Ullah, textbooks in KP (which follow the Federally-designed national curriculum) label local culture as deviant and inherently uncivilized (2012: 217). In focusing on the state RBA thus neglect marginal groups and ignore zones of exclusion, failing to take account of internal power relations which can be the cause of the very inequalities RBA seek to tackle (NyamuMusembi and Cornwall 2004). Furthermore the focus on targets, often supported by quantitative accountability mechanisms (such as enrolment figures), has come under attack as being too limited a conception of rights, allowing policy makers (both international and national) to be contented when following the rules and attaining targets without due consideration of the impact of policy (Robeyns 2006). McCowan argues that access as an input factor is a narrow and insufficient measure of the right to education, and instead promotes a focus on the right to engage in educational processes (2010: 521). He suggests this is an area neglected by traditional right-based approaches and that there is a need to refocus away from enrolment figures or restrictive pre-determined outcomes such as basic literacy and towards an identification of the right to education with purposeful processes (2010). Naseem and Arshad-Ayaz (2007) have noted that the Pakistani curriculum is highly gendered and perpetuates stereotypes; while Tomasevskis 4-A scheme demands that education be non-discriminatory to be accessible the focus of global organizations such as UNESCO and the World Bank on enrolment figures suggests that access comes before all else. Indeed it is entirely possible for Pakistan to achieve gender parity and thus fulfil its EFA obligations while using the current curriculum.

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In this way RBA can be seen as not sufficiently understanding of issues of gender: feminist perspectives on quality of education are absent from the discussions of defining quality (Naseem and Arshad-Ayaz 2007: 79). Naseem and Arshad-Ayaz suggest that feminism has a very different notion of what constitutes quality education to RBA. They see EFA as having a quantitative notion of gender equality while feminisms focus on care: the concept of care is understood to expand the limited conception of rights (Ibid). Specifically the focus is on the type of experience offered and the relationship between school and home, parents and children and teachers and students (Ibid). An experience in which the relationship between teacher and girl is abusive or reinforces social inequalities (as suggested in KPs gendered curriculum) is therefore not seen as one of care, and thus not fulfilling the childs rights in such a conception, although a narrow conception of RBA may consider such a child as educated. RBA offer little clear understanding of how demand issues and decisions over participation in education may be taken into consideration in local contexts (Nyamu-Musembi and Cornwall 2004). In such a light the role of Pashtun culture in determining the demand for education amongst women arguably presents a problem for which RBA are not sufficiently flexible or nuanced. Robeyns considers RBA approaches that focus on supply issues to offer an incomplete analysis of constraints on education suggesting, a complete analysis would also investigate whether there are any other factors constraining children to learn (2006: 77). Jamal (2012) has suggested that Pirdah and the conception of female schooling as being culturally inappropriate is a major factor in inhibiting female education. Extreme forms of Pirdah can completely bar girls' access to education and limit their ability to move freely in society (Kakar 2005: 5). Yet even less extreme forms require consideration when attempting dramatic change such as that demanded by the EFA goals. Cited by three quarters of out-of-school Pashtun girls in KP as an impediment to their education (Naz et al 2011,) Pashtunwali must be understood and addressed for gender equality to stand any chance of realization in the region. Therefore the cultural context adds to other demandside issues such as economic and social constraints, on many occasions

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undermining efforts to supply free schooling to all at the global/national level based on legal rights. Theories of Reproduction Theories of reproduction offer an alternative reading of the issues presented so far, as well as questioning the hegemonic, universal vision of education pressed by UNESCO and typified in the EFA movement. This second theoretical lens has been chosen specifically as part of a tradition that rejects the notion implicit in the EFA movement that education and knowledge are neutral, instead positioning schools as central institutions in the reproduction of dominant ideology and inequalities (Carnoy 1974; Giroux 1983) and arguing EFA is a regulatory framework that can be seen as a form of cultural imperialism controlling Pakistan (Thi Xuan 2010). Emerging from more macro-economic work exploring the relations of power and inequality on a global scale, neo-Marxist dependency theorists working in education explore how relations of power and inequality, (social, cultural, economic), in their myriad forms combinations, and complexities, are manifest and are challenged in the formal and informal education of children (Apple, Au, Gandin 2009: 3). To explore the contributions of TOR in understanding how inequalities are perpetuated through multiple dimensions of power it is necessary to draw on TOR literature pertaining to both international and national reproduction through education. Education and global relations: In Education as Cultural Imperialism Carnoy (1974) put forward the concept of schooling not as a neutral, necessarily positivistic concept, but a form of imperialism and control exerted by the capitalist, developed Western powers. This requires education to transfer culture and values and channel children into various social roles (8). Such views challenge the supposition of Tomasevski and the EFA movement that the transmission of core values to build social harmony is a neutral, universalistic process (2004: ii). This recalls to mind Ullahs study of textbooks that found local culture labelled as deviant and inherently uncivilized (2012: 217), who also found, textbooks in Pakistan

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are effectively promoting cultural values and identities that are alien (and not national) and which serve the interest of global hegemonic players (2012: 215). However, Angela Little warns against using culture as a noun, rather to see culture as a process, which is neither fixed, nor singular (1999: 5). By reducing culture to a noun it is possible to misuse the term in service of elevating unjust practice beyond condemnation: Moghadam argues it is entirely appropriate to interrogate cultural practices, political discourses, and social arrangements which occlude important questions about class, property, ethnicity and gender. (1994: 106). Indeed one critique of TOR must be that if global policies such as EFA should be rejected as imperialism, do we therefore condone or prefer national inequalities as more natural expressions of power and resource distribution? Education and the State: Theories of Reproduction also allow one to explore the power dimensions and exclusionary policies within Pakistan. Giroux refers to three dimensions of reproduction: economic, cultural and hegemonic-state (1983). The economic-reproduction dimension focuses on the relationship between schooling and society in which power is legitimized through the institution of the school. Education becomes the property of the dominant groups and operates to reproduce class, gender, and racial inequalities that function in the interests of the accumulation and expansion of capital (Giroux 1983: 262). Naseem and Arshad-Ayaz suggest that Pakistan has a multi-tiered education system, describing rural and semi-rural schools as being in the third-tier and at the bottom of the public school system (2007: 85). Farah and Shera also suggest there is strong evidence from Pakistans own Social Policy and Development Centre that a funding gap still exists between boys and girls schooling (2007: 25). As such, rural Pashtun people (and to a greater degree women) are subjected to an intentionally inequitable education system that reproduces their inferior position nationally and defines them by their gender as well as their education and economic status; poor, under or un-educated, unskilled.

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This perspective has been criticized by postcolonial and gender critics for overemphasizing the importance of class and economic discrimination at the cost of gender and race issues (Apple et al 2009). Such oversimplification misses the important point that discrimination, even class inequalities occurs in sexed and raced bodies (Ibid). As suggested by Moghadam concerns with classes and cultures can often obscure gender issues: the economicreproductive model emphasizes the importance of class inequality and the action of dominant economic groups while failing to register the inequalities within these social and economic groups. Focus on the difference between the education levels of girls from the top and bottom quintile distracts from a more vigorous discussion of the differences between genders within quintiles. The cultural-reproductive model further illuminates such power dynamics within the state, dynamics that RBA were seen to be insensitive to. Giroux sees schools as playing a particularly important role in legitimating and reproducing dominant cultural capital. They tend to legitimize certain forms of knowledge, ways of speaking, and ways of relating (1983: 268). The gendered nature of schooling in Pakistan is a further example of stateendorsed and reproduced exclusion; with women presented as fulfilling traditional roles within the family, which serve to reinforce gender divisions and social roles as determined by the dominant group (Naseem and ArshadAyaz 2007: 92). Hegemonic-state reproduction developed from the work of Gramsci who argued that it is the spontaneous consent given to the general direction imposed on social life by the dominant [group] which the dominant group enjoys because of its position and function in the world of production (cited in Apple et al 2009: 85). The dynamic discussed above of a people dominated by the politically and economically powerful Punjab majority with the collaboration of Pushtan khans can be understood as an example of such hegemonic power: a power being furthered and legitimated by the institution of the school- Ullah and Ali find that the curriculum in KP significantly reinforces social inequalities and class relations at the expense of the Pashtun cultural identity (2013). TOR thus question the trust placed in the state, a trust seen to be typical of RBA and which has been criticized above, however one attendant

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weaknesses in TOR is that such a sceptical nature regarding what is legitimate knowledge may lead to paralysis. The critical stance taken by neoMarxists education thinkers over who has the right to decide what is produced, what education is for and what is taught (Apple et al 2009: 3) can result in intellectual stalemate. Tensions within the discipline as to the legitimate role of, and priority given to, global, state and ethnic power and identity can lead to inaction as the legitimacy claims of different groups are in tension with another, and may cancel each other out. Below an alternative vision of cultural reproduction is offered in which it is the local culture itself, not global or national forces that reproduces inequalities: the problematic question for TOR is, given the above criticism, what role for the state? Pashtun culture and education: The final layer of power dynamics operates at the local level, within the Pashtun people and is codified in Pashtunwali. Girouxs 3 dynamics can be applied not only to the state but also to the ways dominant groups within a society can attempt to reproduce social and economic inequalities. Such tensions between and within power dynamics are seen to undermine the utility and effectiveness to RBA that rely on hegemonic normative frameworks. This paper argues that within the Pashtun culture dominant males have used education as a zone of inclusion and exclusion to perpetuate patriarchal power structures. As previously mentioned while only 18% of the poorest girls in KP attend school 78% of the richest quintile are in school. This strongly suggests that while gender roles have a significant liability in gender disparity Pashtunwali may be being manipulated by the dominant Pashtuns to further enhance socio-economic barriers and stigmatise the poor: rich Pashtuns are able to educate their daughters and bear the costs required to do so in a manner that observes the tradition of Pirdah. Poorer families cannot necessarily afford the opportunity costs of school and further face social stigmatism if their child fails to observe customs. Cultural-reproduction is apparent in the exclusion of women from education opportunities: by excluding women from schooling men within the Pashtun culture are reproducing their own dominance in society. According to

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The Global Campaign for Education [e]ducated women are more empowered and better able to demand their rights (2011: 4): education (or the denial of it) can be seen to be cultural tool to reduce female autonomy and independence and perpetuate an unjust relation of power and inequality (Farah and Bacchus: 226). Men have monopolized certain forms of knowledge and enforced highly segmented ways of relating. In doing so authority remains with the men, who use the tradition of Pirdah to exclude women from school and other public places through which power is exercised (Kakar 2005: 5). While TOR can be seen to problematise the global hegemonic view of girls education being the duty of legitimate and trustworthy states to resolve the discipline has internal tensions. While offering a critique of the role of the state in creating gender inequalities it is less clear what can be done to reduce such gaps that might be considered acceptable. Equally while helpful in understanding the multiple power dynamics involved in perpetuating gender disparity in Pakistan it is unclear whether concerns of hegemonic reproduction and capitalist indoctrination override seemingly legitimate demands for education from currently marginalized groups. Conclusion Theories of Reproduction and rights-based approaches have been used as theoretical lenses through which to assess the current educational inequalities in Pakistan. While each approach offers specific analytical strengths this essay has also demonstrated underlying tensions between the two approaches stemming from a very different understanding of the role of education for development and the interactions of power globally and nationally. Perhaps more significantly this essay has demonstrated some of the tensions and contradictions within the two theoretical traditions themselves. Rights-based approaches are seen to offer a strong normative framework by which governments can be held accountable for breaches of internationally agreed rights, however the international law from which strength is drawn is also a weakness: rights are often seen as suffering from overreach and a lack

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of specificity and clarity due to their roots in global policy (Gready and Ensor 2005). Theories of Reproduction offer a critical perspective to engage with the complex context and power dynamics that a rights-based approach is insensitive to. However, the same sceptical perspective creates tensions when one starts to deconstruct power relations as multiple layers of inequality are revealed that threaten to paralyse potential action as no group, culture or authority can be fully legitimised to act through the education sector without excluding another.

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References
Abbas, Hassan (Ed). (2009). Pakistan's Troubled Frontier. The Jamestown Foundation: Washington Au, Wayne., and Apple, Michael. (2009) Rethinking Reproduction: Neo-Marxism in Critical Education Theory in (Eds) Apple, M., Au, W., and Gandin, L. The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Education. Routledge: London Apple, Michael., Au, Wayne., and Gandin, Luis. (2009). Mapping Critical Education, in (Eds) Apple, M., Au, W., and Gandin, L. The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Education. Routledge: London Aslam, Monazza., De, Anuradha., Kingdon, Geeta., and Kuman, Rajeev. (2012) 'Economic returns to schooling and cognitive skills: A south Asian comparison' in (Ed) Christopher Colclough. Education Outcomes and Poverty: A reassessment. Routledge: Oxon Barth, Fredrik. (1981). Features of Person and Society in Swat: Collected essays on Pathans. Routledge and Kegan Paul: London. Farah, Iffat and Bacchus, Kazim. (1999) Educating Girls in Pakistan: Tensions Between Economics and Culture in (Eds) Leach, F., and Little, A. Education, Cultures, and Economics: Dilemmas for Development. Falmer Press: New York Farah, Iffat., and Shera, Sehr. (2007). Female Education in Pakistan: A review, in (Eds) Qureshi and Rarieya, Gender and Education in Pakistan. Oxford University Press: Oxford Global Campaign for Education. (2011). Make it Right: Ending the Crisis in Girls Education. Accessed at http://www.results.org/uploads/files/make_it_right_report.pdf on 23/04/13 Giroux, Henry. (1983). Theories of Reproduction and Resistance in the New Sociology of Education: A critical Analysis, Harvard Educational Review, Vol 52 (3), 257-293 Gready, Paul and Ensor, Jonathan. (2005). Introduction, in (Eds) Gready, P and Ensor, J. Reinventing Development: Translating Rights-Based Approaches from Theory into Practice. Zed Books: London Hawkins, J. (2009). The Pashtun Cultural Code: Pashtunwali'. Australian Defence Force Journal, Issue 180, 16-27 I-SAPS. The 18th Constitutional Amendment: Issues and Challenges in Curriculum and Standards. Accessed at http://isaps.org/Publications/Info/18th%20Amendment %20pdf.pdf on 23/04/13

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Jamal, Aamir. (2012). Engaging Men in Gender Justice: Overcoming Barriers to Girls' Education in the Pashtun Tribes of Northern Pakistan', 2012 Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development 2012: Action and Impact Stockholm, Sweden, 8-12 July 2012 Jones, Adele. (1993). Educational Planning in a Frontier Zone. Avebury: Aldershot Kakar, P. (2005). Tribal Law of Pashtunwali and Women's Legislative Authority. Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School. Accessed at www.law.harvard.edu/programs/ilsp/kakar.pdf on 15/04/13 Lall, Maire. (2009). Gender and Education in Pakistan, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, Vol. 9 (1), 114-121 Lutz, Rzehak. (2011). Doing Pashto: Pashtunwali as the ideal of honourable behaviour and tribal life among the Pashtuns. Afghanistan Analysts Network. March 2011. Malik, Rabea., and Naveed, Arif. (2012). Financing Education in Pakistan: The Impact of Public Expenditure and Aid on Educational Outcomes. RECOUP Working Paper No. 42. RECOUP McCowan, Tristan. (2010). Reframing the universal right to education, Comparative Education Vol. 46 (4), 509525 MoEd. (2009). National Education Policy 2009. Ministry of Education, Pakistan. Moghadam, V. (1994). 'Reform, revolution and reaction: the trajectory of the 'Woman Question' in Afghanistan', in (Ed) Moghadam, V. Gender and National Identity: woman and politics in Muslim societies, The United Nations University Naseem, Muhammad., and Arshad-Ayaz, Adeela. (2007). EFA in Times of Globalization and Nationalism, in (Eds) Baker, D., and Wiseman, A. Education for All: Global Promises, National Challenges. International Perspectives on Education and Society Volume 8. Elsevier: Oxford Naz, Arab., and Chaudhry, Hazeef. (2011). Developing Gender Equality, Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, Vol 2 (1), 259-266 Naz, A., Daraz, U., Khan, W., Hussain, M., Khan, Q. (2011). The Dormancy of Empowerment: An Analytical Study of Various Impediments to Womens Education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2 (16), 78-87 Nguyen, Thi Xuan. (2010). Deconstruction Education for All: discourse, power and the politics of inclusion, International Journal of Inclusive Education, Vol 14 (4), 341-355 Nyamu-Musembi, Celestine., and Cornwall, Andrea. (2004). What is the rights-

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based approach all about? Perspectives from international development agencies, IDS Working Paper 234, IDS Rahman, A., Y. Hayat, Z. Habib and J. Iqbal. (2011). Rural-Urban disparities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan, Sarhad J. Agric. Vol 27 (3), 477-483 Robeyns, Ingrid. (2006). Three models of education : Rights, capabilities and human capital, Theory and Research in Education (4), 69 SPARC (2010). The State of Pakistan's Children 2010. Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child. Pakistan: Islamabad Strickland, Richard. (2007). The Way of the Pashtun: Pashtunwali' Canadian Army Journal, Vol 10 (3), 44-55 Thi Xuan Thuy Nguyen. (2010). Deconstructing Education for All: discourse, power and the politics of inclusion, International Journal of Inclusive Education, Vol 14 (4), 341-355 Tomasevski, Katarina. (2004). Manual on Rights-Based Education: Global Human Rights Requirements Made Simple. UNESCO: Bangkok Ullah, Hazir. (2012). Cultural Imperialism Through Education in Pakistan and the Loss of National Identity, Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, Vol 12 (2), 215-222 Ullah, Hazir., and Ali, Johar. (2013). Power on the Pages of Textbooks: Examining Class Hierarchies, Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research Vol 14 (1), 53-62 UNESCO (2012). Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2012 Fact Sheet: Pakistan. October 2012. UNESCO UNICEF/UNESCO (2007). A Human Rights-Based Approach to Education. UNICEF: New York/ UNESCO: Paris UNHCHR (2006). Frequently Asked Questions on a Human Rights-Based Approach to Development Cooperation. United Nations Waseem, Mohammad. (2010). Federalism in Pakistan. Accessed at http://www.civiceducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Waseem-FedOverview.pdf on 01/05/13

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Websites
TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/2032986/Pakistan-renames-North-WestFrontier-Province-to-end-colonial-anachronism.html

UNDP
http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PAK.html (Accessed 01/05/13)

UNESCO (EFA)
http://www.unesco.org.uk/education_for_all#EFA Goals

UNESCO UIS
http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121&IF_Language= eng&BR_Country=5860&BR_Region=40535

World Bank
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.ZS (Accessed on 01/05/13)

World Inequality Database on Education http://www.education-inequalities.org/countries/pakistan/indicators/noprim_1524/regions#?

dimension=region&group=|Punjab|North-West%20Frontier%20Province&dimension2=sex&group2= | Male|Female&dimension3=wealth_quintile&age_group=noprim_1524&year=2006