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Against all odds

Malik Ayub Sumbal, PakistanSeptember 21, 2013

Mehreen Khan has been the sole teacher at a girl's school in a remote Pakistani village for over eight years. Her father drives her to work every day, enabling her to fulfill her dream to give girls access to an education.

https://p.dw.com/p/19lJi

The October 2012 shooting of then 14-year old schoolgirl and education campaigner Malala Yousafzai by Taliban militants in north-west Pakistan put the lack of access to education for girls there in the global spotlight.

Malala has since become a spokesperson for girls education, drawing attention to the massive barriers Pakistani girls and their teachers face.

In Pakistan, 65 percent of girls attend primary school and only 29 percent attend secondary school, according to UNESCO, with many parents considering early marriage a higher priority for their daughters than education.

Mehreen Khan has been the sole teacher at a girl's school in a remote Pakistani village for more than eight years.

Her father drives her to work every day, enabling her to fulfill her dream to give girls access to an education.