At a school in Pakistan, Durkhanay Banuri, 13, dreams of becoming military chief, once a mission impossible for girls in a patriarchal country where the powerful Army has a severe problem with gender equity.
Ms. Durkhanay studies, along with her 70 classmates, at the country’s first-ever Girls’ Cadet College, established earlier this year in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to a 2016 government study, a staggering 24 million Pakistani children are out of school, with a larger share of girls staying home than boys — 12.8 million compared to 11.2 million. Hundreds of boys study at the cadet colleges across the country. But girls are still not allowed in these elite schools, with the special college at Mardan the one exception.
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“Such colleges can help girls qualify to be part of the armed forces, foreign service, civil services or become engineers and doctors,” said retired Brigadier Naureen Satti, underscoring their importance in the long fight for equality by Pakistan’s women.
In starched khaki uniforms and red berets, Ms. Durkhanay and her classmates march the parade ground, stepping to the beat of a barking drill instructor, before racing to change into physical training and martial arts kits.
Women have largely been shut out of the country’s powerful military. Previously they were only allowed to serve in administrative posts. But Gen. Pervez Musharraf opened up the combat branches to women beginning in 2003.
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The Girls’ Cadet College principal, retired brigadier Javid Sarwar, vowed his students would be prepared for whatever they wanted to do, “including the armed forces”.
Affifa Alam, who wants to follow the path taken by Ayesha Farooq — who became the country’s first ever woman fighter pilot in 2013 — said the college represents a “big change”. “This will help us (in) realising the dream of women's empowerment,” she said.