ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on women's education in Pakistan and how educational opportunities, or lack of them, have affected women's lives in the work force, politics, and the family. It analyzes efforts that have been made to increase women's access to education in Pakistan, and it questions whether or not such efforts have contributed to reducing the gender gap in education, paid work, and politics. The micro analysis rests on the belief that women's education profoundly affects their social status and welfare. The ultimate goal of economic development is to improve the well-being of society and to ensure that the benefits of economic progress are distributed fairly among the entire population. Planning for the welfare of women in Pakistan has evolved gradually. In the initial years of the planning process, efforts were directed toward a development strategy that neglected women. The expansion of women's education was subsumed in the education agenda.
