  As college students, the most important part in our lives right now is our education, and the best degree possible within the major of our choice. If we did not get the chance to study and to educate, we will not be able to get into college. Therefore, we know the importance of education, and its effect in our lives and our country as well. It is sad to see that a lot of developing countries have issues providing the environment that is needed to educate their young citizens, especially girls. By looking at girl's education in these countries, especially Pakistan, one can see that is affected by three major factors: society, government, and the world as a whole. Countries in order to succeed should consider education as one of their priorities. Putting a spotlight in such a problem might change the situation. "Education empowers the human through knowledge, skill, training, competencies and polishes her/his personality, attitudes, abilities and behaviors" (Gender Disparity in Pakistan, 2013). Which shows the impact that good education could do to our lives. It improves us as humans physically, socially, and psychologically which could lead us directly to achieve our dreams and goals in this life. 

Educational institutions are the first places that anyone can seek knowledge from, then home and self -education respectively. The problem is what if these three elements are not available. Should the person stay without education, or look for alternatives and solutions? Of course looking for alternatives and solutions is the best way to deal with such situation. The best way to solve a problem is to figure out the cause and estimate the effect. According to The Express Tribune Pakistan (February 2014) there are 5.5 million children out of school in Pakistan. This huge number of children out of school, especially girls, shows how the problem is inherent in the country, which requires a radical and wise solution. The solution is does not have to be just from inside the country, the whole world can participate as well. According to a UNESCO report that is discussed in The Express Tribune Pakistan says that Pakistan is one of 21 countries that facing an extensive learning crisis. As a result, we see those countries are vulnerable to exploitation for whoever has hidden goals or interests whether from inside or outside the country. 

Going through multiple sources about education showed that society plays a significant role in girl's education. As we look at modern societies there is equality in education between the two genders, but it is the opposite in developing countries. "The situation is especially alarming in rural areas due to social and cultural obstacles" according to Aamir Latif (Press International Reports, Pakistan). Pakistan is a sample of a developing country, which has that social impact on the educational system. Literacy rates are very low, especially for girls "only 26% of girls are literate" (Press International Reports, Pakistan).  There are a lot of social factors that control women's education in Pakistan. As a traditional society they expect their girls to become housewives, and they should stay at home. In addition, the social structure in such society labeled girls as a burden to their parents so they send them to work at young ages while boys go to schools. In Pakistan, particularly in rural and suburban areas, women are placed largely at the bottom end of the educational system in comparison to their male counterparts (Noreen, Khalid). Another problem caused by society there, even if girls decided to go to schools, is they get targeted by extremists. They do whatever it takes to keep girls from schools, so do they have hidden goals that will benefit them? Or are they just doing it to let people know that they control them? One would think that those extremists do not want people to be educated, so they can take control of the country and use its resources. It is ambiguous because their goals are not that obvious.  In 2009 a documentary filmed by Adam B. Ellick for The New York Times about women's education shows how those extremist groups are involved in the education crisis that Pakistan is going through. It highlights on a specific area called Swat Valley, exactly on a young girl called Malala Yosef. Malala was targeted by those extremists, because she tried to stand for girl's right to educate, and to break the social boundaries that are holding the educational process in Pakistan. Though, girls were not the only target for extremists, women teachers were also targeted. Jolly Wyser-Pratte claimed on her blog (What It Really Will Take to Educate Pakistan's Girls) that on New Year's Day five female teachers were killed by a gunman. 

Away from extremists, parents' role is very critical and affective in the social structure. For example, if the parent are willing to educate their children, they will try to provide the most suitable environment to study despite other situation which they cannot control, like extremists groups. Malala's parent is the best example for that, were they encouraged her to read, speak, criticize, and to stand for her rights. She barely went to school at that time, but she achieved a lot because of the efforts that her parents who ignored the stereo type about girl's role in society from a housewife to a productive figure in society. As a result, she won the Noble Prize because of her significant role in standing for women's right to educate.  Sadly, this is just an extraordinary case in Pakistan because discrimination is inherent in such society. They do not consider women's education as a priority for society, a study published in Parental Approaches for Educating Children in Bahawalpur, Pakistan 2013 shows that majority of parents (83%) do gender discrimination between children about the educational matter(Parental Approaches for Educating Children in Bahawalpur, Pakistan 2013). As it being said before that social rules in Pakistan has over controlled girls, so they don't have a lot of choices even if they have the choice. One would suggest that poverty in such societies is the dominant factor which prevent families from sending their children to schools, which some studies supported this theory. "The world's poorest children are four times less likely to go to school than the richest", a study was discussed in DWAN newspaper (2015). Therefore, a lot of families are sending their children to work instead of schools. In the same article in DWAN newspaper shows that UNISCO gave the country the chance to develop its education system in a reasonable period, but it failed on that. Activists in Pakistan sees that the majority in society accepted the reality so they barely try to fix the situation.

   Governments should have the absolute power to effect the educational systems in their countries. It is obvious that in some developing countries government's role doesn't go farther than speeches. Various parties such as extremists in Pakistan are the executive authority in the country, which makes controversy between what government wants and what parties do. As a result, there will be a fragile system where a lot of civil rights are ignored such as women's education. Statistics done by UNESCO showed that in some developing countries investment in education decreased in the last ten years. Meaning that governments in these countries do not see the benefits on investing in their educational system. One would think that it is hard for governments in poor countries to have the absolute control under unstable situations. Pakistan is unstable because of many reasons, one of which is extremists who are very powerful. Ziauddin Yousafzai in Ted Talk describes the situation that "it is the scariest thing to stand for your rights while you're surrounded by people who want to end your life". That means even your government cannot protect you while you are striving for your rights. Girls were the victim who did nothing more than being girls, their schools were targeted as well as their lives. A study published in the European Parliament Research Service in 2013 shows that the Taliban has destroyed more than 400 schools, most of them were girls' schools. In any successful country women cannot be ignored, if so, the country is out of luck. They are very productive, intelligent figures in any society. Their role in modern societies, and most successful governments is remarkable. When women has what they need and deserve, they will produce an educated and dependable generation. There are some efforts from governmental and non-governmental organizations to build formal and unformal schools as Amir Latif claims. Gender disparity is another obstacle even if there are schools. Based on Afzal& Roshi, boys' schools are more (Gender Disparity in Pakistan, 114). In such societies, women are not allowed to practice any political position in the country, so boys get the major attention from government to prepare them for political positions in the future.     

That is what requires a strong and serious move in order to stop the injustice that girls are suffering from. Access to knowledge is what makes humans strong and independent creatures, but when there is a lack in knowledge they will be dependent which makes them vulnerable to exploitation, especially girls in such society. In addition to exploitation, security issues and sexual harassment force parents to prevent their daughter from going to school (Naz, Daraz, Khan and Sheikh). Female teachers are also victims for this cries, they can barely teach without risking their lives in rural areas. As a result, a lack in female teachers in presented in these societies. There are physical impediments, such as lack of schools, female teachers, and other tools as well as methods that can improve the education process which affect women status in regard of education (Naz, Daraz, Khan and Sheikh). "A ray of hope" as the Pakistan press reporter Amir Latif talks about some efforts that could improve education "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" he said. Government also decentralized education which affected head teachers positively, and led to job satisfaction. "After devolution in 2001, head teachers had to face many novel challenges. They are answerable to district governments and people are more involved in schools than the past." (Khan, Mirza). According to Khan, Mirza, attitude towards the duties, working conditions, emoluments, supervision, reward systems and promotion possibilities are some indicators of job satisfaction. It is obvious that decentralization helped to push the educational system a step forward, and it could've changed teachers, parents and students' attitude toward the educational system, but the effectiveness of the process is arguable since the issue is still present today. 

It is not an easy thing to attract the world's attention to issues that are happening in developing countries. Even if issues like girls education is discussed in the media, it still needs farther efforts to make the world consider it as a critical problem. People in general are divided into three groups about such issues: people who don't care, people who go with the flow, and people who show empathy and will help. In fact, the reactions toward this issue do not depend on individuals more than organizations, formal and informal parties, and other capable institutions. For example, UNESCO which stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a worldwide organization that helps to spread knowledge to those who are in need around the world. In 2015 UNESCO launched a program with the Pakistani government called Girls' right to educate. According to UNESCO website the program is supported by Malala Fund-in-Trust agreement that was signed in Islamabad in 2014. This program is one of many similar programs which UNESCO has launched around the world, especially the third world. Therefore, UNESCO is a sample of organizations that are striving to help people to get their basic rights. Such programs would ease the pain that a lot of girls are striving to get rid of, like Malala Yousef. As it is known that Malala has won the Noble Peace Prize 2014 for her efforts toward girls' education beside other woman's rights, which is ignored in her country. She was not alone in that journey, but only few were with her. She asked for every help that was possible because she knew that one hand could not clap. Education cries is a very critical issue which need to be taken in to consideration. "The present research study assess that women's education is a global dilemma that has been addressed by researchers throughout the globe" said Naz, Daraz and Khan, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They added, "it has been a matter of concern for most the social scientists". Therefore, it's not necessary that the solution for this issue should come from the inside, because the world can also help. There are a lot of successful academic figures around the world who came from countries that have problematic educational systems. When they had the good environment they simply succeed. Hence, they will try to change the situation in their countries based on the experience they had. That is obvious in this research where some of the articles and sources are written by those people.

Education is what make humans very intelligent and sophisticated figures in this world. It is agreed that the educational process does not have to be restricted in schools, home plays a big role in this process. According to Akhter & Bano, parents should encourage their children to read and gain knowledge at home despite what is going on outside it. Girl's education in developing countries are a critical issue which needs to be considered. Ignoring the issue will not benefit, but it would affect us negatively. Everyone in this world has the ability to make a difference, to make the world a better and peaceful place. Malala is a living sample for that. I believe that if we did not make use of such figures, we would be wasting productive energies. Therefore as humans with ethics and manners, we should stand for each other. The reason that should encourage us to help is because the world is like the human body, if one organ gets hurt, the whole body will be effected as well. In addition, we see that the reasons that affect girls' education in Pakistan, are starting to practice their role outside the country too. Accordingly, solving the problem from its root should be a priority before it is getting worse. And because the country which has the problem could not control the situation there, an outside help is required. Moreover away from what is being said, helping others and giving them hope would make us feel better about ourselves, and would enable us to discover our ability to change and make a difference in others' lives which make a meaning of our lives. I remember a saying for John Dewey that says "education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."    

