Children in Pakistan (especially girls) face multiple barriers to education in both supply and demand:

• Constructing large school buildings in mountainous areas is impractical and expensive

• Even when government schools do exist in these areas, distances are so great that children have to walk for two hours to reach them

• Due to the safety issues of traveling so far across mountainous terrain, parents are reluctant to send their children (especially girls) to school and if they do manage to go, attendance is not regular

HOPE has found that the most effective and sustainable long-term solution to education in Azad Kashmir and rural or poverty-stricken areas is the home school system.  Prior to this, the home school concept was largely ignored in Pakistan.  Home schools solve many barriers to education because they are:

• Affordable: A large physical infrastructure is not needed; home schools can be easily set up in a large room or even outside

• Flexible in nature: Home schools can be readily adjusted to a community’s specific requirements

• Community involvement: Home schools are taught and run by females whom parents know and trust.  Young girls are motivated to open their own home schools as well.