There was a time when women’s education was thought to be mere indulgence; wasteful of the money spent on it. There is demand for women’s education also from professional men who want to marry reasonably educated wives, although not too highly qualified.

There is a concept of an ‘over-qualified’ woman i.e. a woman who has better qualifications than her potential spouse. Such a woman is positively at a disadvantage.

There are, however, many lower middle class households in Pakistan where women have been given no education that could befit them for ‘respectable’ salaried jobs. Traditionally they were relegated to the role of ‘housewives’.

But, gradually and with increasing rapidity new avenues for exploiting the labor of these women have opened up. There are factories with ‘women only’ work force, notably in the ready made clothing trade, where they can go and work as seamstresses or similar tailoring and finishing jobs, which are woefully underpaid.

What we need to do is that special attention be paid on selecting the communication channels that are most appropriate for women and on producing materials in local languages. Because women are involved in many aspects of rural life, their traditional knowledge systems are complex and holistic.

Consequently, communication programs must deal with the various economic and social issues affecting women, including agriculture, habitat, health, nutrition, family planning, population growth, the environment and education and illiteracy.

Our women may play a major role in ensuring food security and in the development and stability of the rural areas of our country. Yet with little or no status, they frequently lack the power to secure land rights or to access vital services such as credit, inputs, extension, training and education.

And to give recognition to the role and the tremendous contribution of women to our country’s economic development and food security as stipulated in Pakistan, their vital contribution to society goes largely unnoticed.

In Pakistan’s economy, women play an active role, but their contribution has been grossly underreported in various censuses and surveys. Consequently, official Labor force statistics show a very minimal participation of women.