PESHAWAR: A research study has revealed a lack of higher secondary opportunities for Afghan girls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and called on organisations working in Afghan refugee villages to prioritise establishment of higher secondary schools for girls.
It pointed out that Haripur district had no secondary school for Afghan girls in the refugee population of around 100,000.
The study was conducted under the Protracted Displacement Economies, a project that explores the diversity of people’s social and economic experiences in communities, areas and places affected by the displacement.
The project is being executed by the Department of Political Science, University of Peshawar, in collaboration with the University of Sussex, UK.
UoP researchers conduct study in Peshawar, Haripur and Lower Chitral
Researchers from the department of political science shared the findings of the study conducted in the Tehkal area of Peshawar, Haripur and Drosh area of Lower Chitral district at a meeting of stakeholders here on Monday.
Dr Shahida Aman, chairperson of the department of political science, said the stark reality for both Pakistanis and Afghans was that the number of people never attending school was remarkably higher.
She said since job opportunities for Afghan getting a higher level of education were drastically low, the rate of higher education was lower in refugees than in host communities.
“The gender divide may be quite stark, especially for the refugees as there is a poor state of girls education in the refugee villages,” she said.
She said in a Haripur refugee village with a population of 100,000 people, there was not a single higher secondary school for girls.
“Most girls stay out of school after completing their fifth grade,” she said.
She said that the research findings also confirmed that the refugees’ economic contributions were predominantly in the informal economy because of significant constraints to their involvement in the formal side.
Refugees have created niches in agriculture and economic activities and in some specialised sectors, they have carved out a particular function such as butcher shops, bread making, soup stalls, Afghan burgers, English language and IT training and music schools,” she said.
However, Ms Aman said being Afghan and not having access to legal residency status also dis-empowered refugees in formal working spaces, restricting access to professional employment and formalised business ownership.
She said that Afghan participation in economic life had generated with the locals and people in Tehkal area of Peshawar and Haripur resenting economic penetration of Afghans in businesses.
Ms Aman said that expenditure patterns for both hosts and refugees were similar with the repayment having the highest call on family expenses followed by food and health.
“NGOs, IGOs and governments should provide technology based entrepreneurship opportunities for young graduates and Afghan entrepreneurs should be allowed to register their businesses and own property,” she said.
Ms Aman said the study also called for removal of unnecessary barriers to opening bank accounts for Afghan refugees for helping to grow their savings as well as investment opportunities.
She said the government should also include the presence of documented and undocumented Afghan populations in public service and development planning provisions such as health, education, water and sanitation.
Principal investigator of the PDE project Prof Abdul Rauf said the project was conceived in 2019 and finally approved in 2020.
He said the project was meant to look at the impact of the displacement of large numbers of people on a particular area.
On the occasion, films on the subject were screened.
