At 72, Mariam Bibbi is still actively pursuing her life’s purpose: championing girl’s education. For nearly three decades, she has worked with parents and community leaders to expand access to learning for underserved children. Today, she collaborates with UNICEF and other partners on this shared mission.

“I come from a very remote and underdeveloped background. I am only here doing what I do because of education,” she says. Encouraged by her father to pursue schooling at a time when girls’ education was rare, she went on to graduate from Jinnah College for Women in Peshawar—an opportunity that shaped her path.

Mariam is a member of the local education group, a multi-stakeholder platform bringing together government, civil society and development partners to strengthen sector coordination and improve education sector planning. By including voices with deep community experience, it helps ensure that policies reflect the realities faced by marginalized children, particularly girls.

“Education is protection,” Mariam says. “It improves health, prevents child marriage and gives families hope.”

Understanding the barriers

In 1994, Mariam founded Khwendo Kor (“Sisters’ Home”) to reach communities with limited access to education. Working in some of the most conservative and under-resourced districts, she championed community-based education. Since then, more than 50,000 children have completed their primary and secondary education through the initiative.

This experience gave her an in-depth understanding of the complex challenges families face. Poverty, distance, household responsibilities and social norms continue to limit access to schooling—especially for girls. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nearly 4.9 million children are out of school, including about 2.9 million girls.

“You cannot just tell a mother to send her daughter to school,” Mariam explains. “She may say the girl must fetch water or help at home.”

She brings these perspectives into education dialogue through her role in the local education group. “Without education, women remain vulnerable to exploitation and exclusion,” she adds.

Strengthening coordination and dialogue

The local education group has created space for government, civil society and partners to work more closely together. Through joint sector reviews and mapping of education programs, stakeholders have gained a clearer picture of the scale of partner contributions.

In 2023, the government worked with all members of the local education group to review education sector performance, develop a deeper understanding of obstacles to reform, and identify a priority reform with the potential to catalyze system change.

Based on the consultative process, partners agreed to focus on improving learning at the primary level, and effective transition and retention at the middle level, especially for girls, through strengthening processes and management.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Partnership Compact has aligned all partners and resources behind the priority reform, establishing a sense of collective ownership of the challenges facing their education system. The compact also served as the basis for Khyber Pakhtunkwa's GPE system transformation grant of $21.9 million for 2025–2029, which supports the province to pursue activities in support of achieving the priority reform.

“The biggest victory is that the government is listening and engaging local partners in policy dialogue,” says Mariam. “This is a major positive change.”

Her work has also shown how access to education can transform lives. Girls who once struggled to attend school have gone on to become professionals, creating ripple effects in their communities.

Looking ahead

The local education group is critical in supporting advocacy for equitable access, innovation and improved system planning including digital solutions.

Mariam emphasizes the need to address persistent barriers to girls’ education while also preparing for the future—through better teacher training, the integration of technology, building climate-resilient systems and expanding access in remote areas.

“Education should be inclusive, participatory and ready for the 21^st century. Change at community level takes time, but policy change can move faster so we must connect the two,” says Mariam.

Despite ongoing challenges, she remains hopeful. “I will keep fighting for education until the end of my days,” she says. “If one girl graduates, she can change many lives.”

Through the experience and commitment of members like Mariam, the local education group is helping strengthen more inclusive and responsive education systems in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—so that no child is left behind.