The attack against 15 years old Pakistani activist, Malala Yousoufzai, shot in the head last October by the Talibans in Swat Valley, reveals the desperate struggle for girls’ education in Pakistan.

    Estimates state that the literacy rate for girls between 15 to 24 years old in Pakistan is 61 percents while boys literacy reaches 79 percents. The general female adult population literacy would be 40 percents. The situation is worst in rural areas where both genders are affected by illiteracy. Poverty and family organization would be the main reasons that keep girls out of school. Families who can’t afford to pay school books and uniforms for all their children would rather send only their boys to school, as they will traditionnally become the breadwinner of the family while the girls would get married and live with their husband’s relatives.

    In the tribal areas of Pakistan (close to the Afghan border) and in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, only 20% of students would females. The Taliban well-known opposition to girls education dissuade many parents from sending their daughter to school from the fear they get attacked.

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    Pakistani demonstrators pay homage to 15 years old Pakistani activist, Malala Yousoufzai, shot in the head by the Talibans, in October 2012, for promoting girls'education in Swat Valley.

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    (AP Photo)

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    Afghan refugee and Pakistani children, who were displaced with their families from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between militants and the army, attend their daily Quran class, in a slum, on the outskirts of Islamabad. Learning how to read verses of Quran (Islam's Holy book) is the only class that get most children of this poor neighborhood.

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    Children play in the schoolyard of a slum, on the outskirts of Islamabad. After the class, most of the boys go work to the market while the girls go beg in the streets of Islamabad or Rawalpindi to support their family.

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    "School is cool" reads the slogan on the wall of this makeshift school, on the outskirts of Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    Pakistani Nisha Nadeem, 6, during her daily class at her school, in a slum, on the outskirts of Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    Pakistani girls help each other to learn how to read verses of Quran, Islam's holy book, in a slum of Islamabad.

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    A makeshift school set up by volunteers, in a Public Park, downtown Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    A Pakistani student stands on a chair to write on the board, at the EHD foundation school, in Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    Afghan refugee and Pakistani children, who were displaced with their families from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between militants and the army, attend their daily Quran class, in a slum, on the outskirts of Islamabad. Learning how to read verses of Quran (Islam's Holy book) is the only class for most children of this poor neighborhood. (AP Photo)

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    Dolores Arif, 40, teaches the alphabet to children, in a Church, turned into a kindergarden, in a Christian neighborhood of Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    Pakistani demonstrators pay homage to 15 years old Pakistani activist, Malala Yousoufzai, shot in the head by the Talibans, in October 2012, for promoting girls'education in Swat Valley.

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