Parental Perceptions of Girls’ Education in the Muslim Community of Nepal

Abstract

This study investigated parental perceptions on Muslim girls and their education. Girls’ access to education in Muslim communities is shaped by a combination of social, cultural, economic, religious and gender-specific aspects. The objective of this study was to explore the perception of parents and its influences on girls’ education. Parents’ perception of benefits of girls’ education and barriers to girls’ education were also examined. Qualitative research design with narrative approach has been used in this study. I applied the interpretive paradigm to explain the information gathered from the participants. The site of this study was Muslim community of Bara district. The participants include three parents from the same Muslim community. I used purposive sampling procedure for selecting the participants. I conducted in-depth interviews using interview guidelines as a data collection tool. I developed themes based on the information provided by the participants and linked them with related theories. The study found that the socio-cultural impacts, family income sources, safety and protection concern in the public places for younger girls and the gender bias and social control specially impacted to educating girls as perceived by the parents. Muslim mothers were found to be aware of their girls’ education. They have reflected their entire life-struggle that they faced because of their illiteracy.