Bridging the Gap Between Intention and Action: Girls' and Women's Education in South Asia,

Jahan, R., Ramachandran, V., et al
UNESCO, Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education, PROAP, New Delhi, 1998. (International)

Chapters: The Bangladesh Experience, The Indian Experience, The Nepal Experience, and The Pakistan Experience.

This report is an outcome of a four-country study on girls' and women's access to basic education, initiated by the Asia-South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education in collaboration with UNESCO-PROAP. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have the highest count of out-of-school girls and women in the region. It was considered that if a breakthrough in providing basic education to females can be made in these countries, not only will they take a major leap in their efforts towards development, but also their worldview would alter consideration. Thus, researchers with experience in the development sector were identified to prepare the country studies. The principle focus of the studies was to highlight the barriers to girls' and women's education with a view to identifying strategies to mainstream policies and programmes. This was intended to be a contribution towards finding ways of eliminating the constraints to women's empowerment, with literacy as an enabling strategy. This report put together all the four country papers, and drew conclusions from all of them to come up with concrete recommendations and follow up actions. It was concluded that change could be initiated in specific areas with clearly articulated region-specific issues. It was also considered possible to draw generic lessons from NGO experiences and adapt them to specific regions/communities. Most problems related to educational access of girls, their retention in the school system, convincing the community of the relevance of education in their daily lives, and empowering people to negotiate the world from a position of strength, can be adapted into the government systems.

Key words: Women, Education, Literacy, Empowerment, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.