Gender Construct for Sustainable Development in Pakistan: Evaluating Alignment of Education System with the Religious Ideology

Gender construct plays a role in activating or deactivating gender equality in society, which is an essential factor for sustainable development. An education system is a primary source of building and mainstreaming social values, especially gender constructs, and Pakistan’s education system aims to...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Huma Mursaleen, Sadaf Taimur
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-10-01
Series:Societies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/13/10/224
Description
Summary:Gender construct plays a role in activating or deactivating gender equality in society, which is an essential factor for sustainable development. An education system is a primary source of building and mainstreaming social values, especially gender constructs, and Pakistan’s education system aims to provide equal access and un-discriminatory education to both boys and girls, aligned with religious ideology. The current research evaluates the alignment between the gender construct informed by religion in the education system of Pakistan and the gender construct informed by the local religious perception. To achieve this purpose, this research captures the perceptions of local experts on gender constructs, guided by the education system and underlining religious (Islamic) ideology via semi-structured interviews. The research identifies that the obsolete interpretation of religion, aligned with the local interpretation, guides biased gender constructs through the education system. The current research has identified the leverage points to transform the current education system of Pakistan into a sustainable education system by promoting religiously acceptable gender-inclusive education.
ISSN:2075-4698