Population, Gender, and Disparity - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 76

Figure 3-6
This is a boys' religious school in Pakistan' is
Northwest Frontier . Here the boys spend a few
hours each day learning to read the Koran along
with some other basic education. Note the visiting
girls standing to the right. What are they doing?
How will the lives of these boys and girls differ?
Photograph courtesy of B. A. Weightman.

in school. In many places, girls attend school for only one
or two years and are the most likely to leave to help with
domestic chores and to look after younger siblings. In
Pakistan, the advancement rate of girls from primary to
middle schools, which is poor to begin with, has declined
in recent years. Lack of schooling, along with historical
disparities between males and females, explains the
male/female differential in literacy rates (Table 3-3).

12 years. T Today, , 99 percent of births are attended by
a skilled physician, and the country has one of the
lowest maternal mortality rates in Asia.

Girls make up close to half the children attending
school in China, but statistics do not show that they
make up three-quarters of those enrolled but never
attending. Some believe that education is wasted on girls,
who will soon marry into another family' s household. It
is more practical that she help with chores at home as
long as she lives there. It is well understood that, in
more affluent circles, increasing educational achieve-
ment by women coincides with reduction in family size.
An educated woman is more likely to understand the
methods and reasons for family planning, and she is in
a stronger position to make choices concerning her own
life.

Sri Lanka's Success in
Education and Health

Sri Lanka invests carefully in both health and edu-
cation, with particular attention being given to gen-
der equality . Ninety percent of Sri Lankan women
are literate compared to around 60 percent across
South Asia. The government purports that invest-
ment in girls' schooling will result in their having
higher economic value and, consequently , more
influence in society .
An excellent civil registration system has
recorded maternal deaths since 1900. Therefore, the
country has reliable data compared to vague esti-
mates from other places. With a nationwide public
health infrastructure ranging from rudimentary
clinics to provincial hospitals, women are much
more likely to survive childbirth. The government
has also established a wide network of trained mid-
wives who provide prenatal care and refer risky
cases to doctors. Since 1935, Sri Lanka has man-
aged to halve its maternal mortality rate every 6 to

SEX RATIOS
Another demographic measure related to patriarchy and
gender is sex ratio: the numerical ratio between men and
women in a population. Normally , populations have a
fairly balanced sex ratio. Sex ratios at birth are biologi-
cally stable (assuming no intervention). The norm is
105 male births to every 100 females. However, sex ratios
in countries with long life expectancies reflect the fact
that women live longer than men. Southeast Asia, where
women are more highly valued, is the only Asian region
to be female dominated.
In 2007, India had 108 boys for every 100 females.
Pakistan had 106, Bangladesh 105, and China 107 males