Azad Jammu and Kashmir Outperforms Pakistan’s Regions/Areas in Gender Parity at the Primary School Level: An Empirical Evidence from MICS Data

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) faces challenges in improving gender parity (GP) in primary education, with limited empirical research on its progress. This study evaluates AJ&K's performance in achieving gender equality using MICS, PLSM, WEF, and ASER datasets, analyzed via SPSS-26 and MS Excel, complemented by graphical tools. AJ&K surpassed the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 3.1) in 2008 with a GP score of 0.97 and achieved the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4.5.1) target of a Gender Parity Index (GPI) of 1.00 by 2021, outperforming other regions of Pakistan and some South Asian countries. Key factors include strong governmental commitment, community support, increased female representation in schools, and efficient resource utilization. The findings suggest that economic and socio-cultural factors have minimal influence on GP in AJ&K, providing actionable insights to address gender disparities in underperforming regions of Pakistan. The study emphasizes the importance of targeted interventions to achieve equitable education.