Unveiling Attitudes of Parents in the Nomadic Communities towards Formal Education of their Out of School Children in Jaranwala, Faisalabad

Abstract

This study examines how nomadic ‘gypsy’ parents in Jaranwala Tehsil, Faisalabad District, Pakistan, view their children’s formal education outside of school, and whether these views are related to the barriers they face. Using a cross-sectional design, 100 parents were interviewed through a structured schedule. Parents were overwhelmingly positive: 90% want higher education for their children (mean = 4.49), 91% believe that schooling will improve their child’s future (mean = 4.44), and 82% would enroll them if conditions were supportive (mean = 4.12). Only 10% felt that education was a waste of time (mean= 1.96). Four hypotheses were tested using Cross-tabulations, chi-square, and Gamma. These statistics were used to examine the relationship between these attitudes and perceived barriers. The willingness to send children to assisted living was significantly associated with the level of barriers (χ²=10.055, p=040), but gamma was not (Gamma=0.148, p=.732). There were no significant association found with other attitude measures. Overall, parents were supportive regardless of barriers. This suggests that low enrollment is due to structural barriers, not parental neglect or resistance, and points to a need for structural rather than behavioral change interventions.