STRUCTURAL AND NORMATIVE BARRIERS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY OF DISTRICT BAJAUR

Abstract

This study focuses on various obstacles that are faced by girls' education in the tribal and post-conflict District of Bajaur in KP, Pakistan. It is particularly looking at the interplay between structural barriers, including constrained education provision, a lack of women teachers, economic constraints, and security issues, and normative barriers rooted in sociocultural and religious norms including Pukhtunwali norms, gender roles, and the issue of early marriage. Twenty in-depth interviews of female students between the ages of fifteen to twenty-four were used to gather data using a qualitative methodology. Its findings illustrate this interlinking and reinforcing interplay between these normative and structural factors and its contribution to a system of exclusion in girls' education. The research also found that policy interventions alone are not sufficient to improve the sustainability of girls' education access, and suggests a broader, culturally relevant approach that includes policy alongside improvements to infrastructure and support, strategies to engage communities, and measures to address security. The findings of this research project shows how urgently it is needed to adopt approaches that are relevant and contextual, offering solutions to both the actual and potential challenges that girls face in underprivileged communities when it comes to learning and empowerment.