BREAKING BARRIERS: SOCIOCULTURAL AND LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES FACING FEMALE TEACHERS IN RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOLS OF DISTRICT DERA BUGTI, BALOCHISTAN, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Female teachers are central to expanding girls’ schooling in rural Pakistan, yet little empirical evidence describes the conditions under which they work in Balochistan’s most remote districts. This study examined the sociocultural and logistical challenges experienced by female teachers in rural primary schools of District Dera Bugti and tested how these challenges relate to perceived education quality. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted with 120 female teachers selected by simple random sampling from a population of 150 eligible teachers in 70 government girls’ primary schools across four tehsils. Data were collected with a 15-item, five-point Likert questionnaire (Cronbach’s α = .98–.99 across three subscales) that was reviewed by five subject experts and piloted with 20 teachers. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression were computed in SPSS. Teachers reported higher agreement with sociocultural challenges (M = 3.43, SD = 0.61) than with logistical challenges (M = 3.07, SD = 0.60). At item level, 62.5% agreed that cultural expectations affect their teaching negatively, 59.2% that cultural practices limit their professional training, 56.7% that they feel unsafe travelling to school, and 58.3% that transport facilities for female teachers are lacking. Both challenge domains correlated positively with perceived impact on education quality (r = .65 and .60, p < .001) and together explained 52% of its variance, F(2, 117) = 63.40, p < .001, with sociocultural challenges the stronger predictor (β = .40 vs. .35). The findings point to the need for integrated interventions that combine community engagement, safe transport, school infrastructure, and gender-responsive professional development. Because the design is cross-sectional and based on self-reports, the associations should not be read as causal