DUBAI: Female representation in the school curriculum stands at a mere 7 percent in Pakistan. A new advertising campaign by Lifebuoy shampoo and its brand management agency, Grey Pakistan, aims to change this and is already helping to drive improved gender inclusivity in the country’s schools.
The campaign is called Mein Choti Si Aik Ladki Hoon, which translates as I am a Little Girl. It has already inspired policymakers to revise the school curriculum to be more gender-balanced, a first in Pakistan.
The advert shows a young girl reading a well-known poem by Jamiluddin Aali in front of her classmates. An established part of the national school syllabus, it is written from a male perspective. As a result, her fellow students laugh at her for reading a poem featuring male stereotypes and statements such as: “I am a young boy but I will do big things.”
She goes home upset but is comforted and encouraged by her mother to be strong. The girl is given a new version of the poem, written from a female viewpoint, which she then reads on stage.
Urdu poet and scriptwriter Zehra Nigah was tasked with rewriting the original version of the poem and her update has had a tangible effect in addressing the lack of female inclusivity in schools.
Asima Haq, director of beauty and personal care for Unilever Pakistan, said that Lifebuoy Shampoo has been working to “leverage education as a key enabler for females in Pakistan” since 2018.
“This campaign reaffirms our commitment to girl empowerment at the grassroots level, where the impact is felt and needed most,” she added. “We strongly believe that by educating a girl, you open up possibilities of a better future for her, her family and generations to come.”
As part of the campaign, Lifebuoy Shampoo has partnered with the Punjab government’s Ministry of Education, as a result of which the new, female-centric version of of the poem will become part of the national curriculum at more than 4,000 government-funded schools, in addition to more than 1,000 run by the non-profit Zindagi Trust. Comic books created by female artists are also being distributed to schools across the country.
Murad Raas, the minister for school education in Punjab, said that the province’s government is “actively working toward generating better education opportunities.”
He added: “We are acutely aware of the challenges faced by our girls and are working tirelessly to increase school attendance and retention rates and improve infrastructure facilities.”
