Even though there is a lack of concern on the part of government to promote girls' education, some religious groups, political parties and NGOs are working actively to do so despite all barriers.
Alkhidmat, a countrywide NGO, is running almost 100 non-formal schools in small villages of Sind, Baluchistan and NWFP Provinces, where not merely girls but adult women are admitted for basic primary education.
"We think women's education is equally important. When women become literate, they can build a better nation, said Mrs Abida Farheen, a graduate of Karachi university and the head of Alkhidmat's education wing.
In Sind province, NAZ, a Khairpur-based NGO, is running fifty formal and non-formal girls' schools in the city's outskirts; the NGO Resource Center, a Karachi-based organisation, is operating scores of girls' schools while Green Crescent, another Karachi-based NGO, is running twenty non-formal schools for girls in villages throughout the province. In Punjab, the Al-Ghazali Education Trust, a Lahore-based organization, is operating some 200 formal and non-formal schools, mostly for girls and women, all over the province.