Gender Disparity at Secondary Level Education- A Comparative Study of Urban and Rural Punjab

Abstract

Gender disparity with regards to educational opportunity has been hindering the intellectual development of females, especially in countries such as Pakistan. The paper, therefore aims to determine the root causes of gender disparity and their role in deterring the enrolment rate of females across Punjab at the secondary level of education. The research used an OLS linear regression model to measure and account for the variables which have affected the female enrolment rates across the rural and urban areas of Faisalabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi. 75 households of each region, urban and rural were used in this study to account for their respective female enrolment rates between the age bracket of 10-15 years and the factors affecting these rates. Various observable variables such as household heads education level, household income, household size, trends of early marriages and availability of adequate schools were considered when measuring and recording the effects of gender disparity on female enrolment rates, focusing mainly on Punjab. The results show that female enrolment rates are higher in the urban areas of Punjab as compared to the rural areas of the same regions, where greater male bias can be observed. The study further recommends various policy options to counter act or diminish this gap to some extent.